Sacrifice to the Dragon
by thelunaaltar
Summary: It was a no choice thing, you had to give yourself up to the Ice Dragon for the 'sake of your village'. But when Rukia, Daughter of the Flower Lord, and Orihime I. are thrown into the dragons den, she again manages to put everything in an uproar.HitsuRuki
1. So the Story Begins

**A/N: I WILL update 'Silence of Night' and 'My Fairy Godmother' soon; don't get your panties in a bunch. This is my new story, 'Sacrifice to the Dragon'. Huh, I am obsessed with Fantasy stories, so if you've got a good Fantasy HitsuRuki story, chuck it at me. I'm desperate. XD. As you guys may be aware of, my OC's will be in here, there just the same OC's from 'Silence of Night;, but they won't appear until later in story, well…they won't have much scenes until later in the story, they'll just have short lick-flicks. ON TO THE STORY~!**

**P.S.**

**-For those who read 'Silence of Night's Chapter's 1 and 7, I have replaced them and changed it a bit so it's better.-**

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><p><em><span>Sacrifice to the Dragon<span>_

_Chapter 1:_

_So the story begins…_

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><p><em>A long time ago…<em>There was the largest village in all realms, called the Seireitei. It was the center piece to the all of the other worlds, the small chip that kept everything into balance. Around the Seireitei, there are 9 main Kingdoms. The Fire, Ice, Storm, Light, Darkness, Death, Life, Crystal and Flower Kingdom surrounded the Seireitei. There were many other little realms that weren't connected to the Large Kingdoms, but they were still counted as one to it. The only big difference between the Seireitei and the Kingdoms were that they were controlled by large Ancient Dragons and their Sword Spirits. While it wasn't exactly rare to find dragons in the Seireitei, it surely was a sight. It was hardly that anyone saw any other Ancient Dragon than Byakuya Kuchiki, the Lord of the Flower Kingdom. He was the only Dragon of all known History to ally with Seireitei. Though he was still the ruler to his Kingdom he left in charge his three trusted beings-Senbonzakura, Tokuku YuniYuki, and her Sword Spirit Voritorna. Anyways, Byakuya had saw to it that his Queen, Hisana, had stayed in the Flower Kingdom where she was most protected; she was a human while he was a dragon. They have a child, Rukia Kuchiki, who was part Dragon and Human. She didn't look like a dragon-not at all, she looked like a human…besides that her eyes were fanged like a dragons and her canine teeth were far sharper than the ordinary humans'. And speaking of the said girl…

Rukia walked down the dusty streets of the Seireitei along with her good friend, Orihime-who was mindlessly ranting on some new strange food she had tried. She was currently wearing a short dark blue silk kimono that went less than half way of her thighs, a white sash went around her waist and a big bow tied in the back. A white chocker strapped around her neck and her hair was up in a messy bun, she truly wouldn't have worn something like that, but Orihime gave her the puppy dog eyes and suggested so. The orange/brown haired girl wore something similar besides it was a light shade of green. Rukia's Zanpakuto (Or known as the Sword Spirit) Sode no Shirayuki was at her hip, and if danger were to come by she would be able to protect both herself and Inoue-san; the taller woman was a healer, not a fighter. Rukia's eyes darted around, silence forsaking the narrow path they walked. Lush grass slowly merged into dirt and rubble as they made it to the place where the commotion was high during the last day of the year; it was a Sacrifice to the Ice Dragon. Originally, there was a sacrifice to all Ancient Dragons. The huge doors all used to stand up all together in a perfect circle with a very quiet, isolated area. But that is until all of the other Dragons, besides the Flower and Ice Dragons, had destroyed the doors that led entrance to their world for an unknown reason. And ever since that had happened, the Ice Dragon had become the closest realm to the Seireitei, therefore making them go through practically everything his realm did, which was many blizzards and cold weathers; something that most could not survive through. So the villages' men had thought of a very idiotic idea to annually hand out women the most powerful Dragon of all realms to 'please' him. The fact that they over looked the possibilities that he might have _not_ been perverted like they thought tended to slip right over their heads and the very idea had seemed _retarded_ right away. Such simple minded idiots…Rukia weaved her way around the gathering people, her shoulder every now and then bumping into others as Orihime had apologized to all of the people that received her 'cold treatment'. Forcing their way into the front of them all Rukia saw as three well dressed-kimono-wearing fat men gathered right beside the large golden door with two blue dragons with ruby eyes stood. An icy aura pulsed from the door stating that the ice dragon was very much alive. Rukia gulped as her eyes scanned for the next victim to the Ice Kingdom.

"I wonder who will be going this year…" Inoue murmured pity and sorrow threaded in her voice. Rukia rested a hand on her friend's shoulder and squeezed it softly. The black haired man spoke up first.

"It has come to the end of the year," He spoke loudly, causing the villagers to quiet down and listen more intently. Some people began to back away and leave, not wanting to ever have the possibility of being thrown in the Dragon's domain. Rukia stood where she was, closing her jaw together tightly. "The Sacrifice is needed from a brave woman to save our village from the Dragon's wrath," Silence became more eerie and tense as the man continued. His eyes laid on Rukia briefly, but quickly were averted from knowing who she was; the daughter of the Flower Lord, had she ever be thrown in there the village would suffer more than cold nights. No one volunteered.

"You! You will sacrifice yourself to the dragon!" He pointed his finger rudely to a small girl in the crowd, she look like she couldn't have been any older than 13, the woman by her froze as tears gathered in her eyes.

"No-no…! N-not my daughters please! She would never please the dragon, just let her be! Take me instead!" The man shook his head, and on command the two other advanced to the girl, who was in tears and creaming and kicking if her life depended on it-which it did. Rukia could see tears gathering in Orihime's big brown eyes; she had to shut it and bite her lips just to stop the waterworks. But Rukia too was near tears, but she had seen many more things to prepare her for such. A brown haired man took a long sword and stuck it into the key hole of the door, his chubby hands were about to turn it when an outburst sounded off.

"Do not take her!" It was Rukia, her voice strong and her eyes glazed, she could take no more of it. Many gasps and whispers began to start up. The fat man bowed down low.

"I'm so sorry Princess Kuchiki-sama, but I cannot do such, a sacrifice is needed and-"

"Take me then, I will be much more suited for a position than her," The man quickly got up. The two other men released their grip on the girls arm as she hurried to her mother, who thanked Rukia dearly and scurried off. The man shook his head.

"I apologize Kuchiki-hime-sama but I cannot fulfill that request! Lord Kuchiki would not be pleased with this-" He was cut off once more.

"I am very aware of my situation, but you seem not to know yours," He raised an eyebrow indicating her continuation. "I am a Princess, therefore holding a higher status and ranking than yours, I know very well of my Father and what he will do, but I refuse to watch this any longer." She took a step forward, and the man sighed in big defeat. Status was a bitch.

"Very well…Let the SACRIFICE CONTINUE!" He boomed. People were stunned; the little lady was giving herself up to such a big position. Orihime grabbed onto Rukia's wrist, tears leaking and streaming down her face. Rukia's widened eyes lowered softly.

"Orihime…"

"Rukia Please don't go!" The raven haired human shook her head. She knew Orihime would do this, but she could no longer do this, the sacrifice was very unfair, and she would do all in her power to end it.

"I must Orihime," The busty woman leaked more tears.

"No-I'll come with you!" A sad smile found its way onto her face, she didn't want to go wither, but she would never live down knowing that she could've stopped her friend from possible death. Rukia sighed knowing that Orihime would stop at nothing to come with her.

"Very well," The two men then finished turning the sword and the gate opened letting a huge billow of snow and such flow out. Rukia held tightly onto Orihime's hands as she led her into the icy realm. And this is where their journey begins…

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><p>The Fire Queen was very snobbish indeed, or she may have only showed. She looked like a freaking 12 year old even though she was 600 years old. She had chocolate colored skin and big gray eyes with shoulder length messy black hair. She wore a long sleeved kimono that was and dark orangebrown that clung tightly to her body and hung loosely at the ends near her hands, it had red Chinese Dragons coiling on the sleeves and one on the bottom corner. A bright orange bow was on the back of it. A large golden staff was in her hand, on the top of it ring around and a glowing ruby hovered in it; the Fire Gem, if it were to be taken, her kingdom would fall to bits, the same for every other Kingdom. She looked around sideways into the mirror and stuck her chest out-nothing. She was never growing any breasts…She called upon her best friend Hinamori Momo into her room along with her Sword Spirit Zibarraru. Zibarraru could either choose to be in a more humane form or a Dragon form or just a plain small red snake; it turned out he chose dragon from. He was long and red with yellow flamed spikes going down his back and tail where an alit fire burned wildly. Black symbols littered his body mostly being strips and loops. He happened to be one of the lucky dragons that had arms and legs and wings. He had fangs like a snake also, and was actually more of a snake/dragon than a dragon itself.

"Yes My Lady?" They said in unison while kneeling. She smiled softly.

"Please do assist me on a walk, we have matters to discuss," She muttered. They all had gotten up and leapt on Zibarraru's back where he flew the group outside, and when he landed he became a small snake so he could wrap himself and nuzzle himself into his wielders hair. The Fire Kingdom was truly strange, it wasn't nearly as weird as the Darkness Kingdom or the Death Kingdom-those were down right creepy-but it had peaked fascination for lots of dragons and humans. The sky was an off shade of red/orange with a few white orange dapple clouds scattered around. All paths-The Fire Kingdom was also known for the many paths they had-were black molten rock with visible cracks in it that showed bubbling hot magma. The Fire Kingdom had many ignited sakura trees everywhere. The trunks were black, and the flowers were much darker and fell burning petal by burning petal. A hot breeze carried many petals in it.

"As I can sense, the Ice Kingdom has a new guests in," The black haired Queen murmured while closing her eyes and folding her hands neatly in front of her. Hinamori nodded.

"Yes Queen, do you need any information on them?" She asked politely. The Fire Queen gave an easy going smile to her as a small flaming petal flew past by. She caught it in her hands and fiddled with it until it reduced to ashes.

"Ah-yes, information is very helpful…" She felt Zibarraru snuggle deeper into her hair. They soon made it to a huge golden gate. Two onyx gargoyles stood till, but all people of the Fire Kingdom knew they were very alive. Their ruby eyes wandered to them and at the sight of their Queen's glare they opened the large doors. There were two larger doors that led to the next realms in front of hers and behind hers. Behind her Kingdom was the Ice Kingdom and in front of her was the Storm Kingdom, which was ruled by Hsariku Janee Shai and her Zanpakuto Ukito Kiro, and her second in command Hisagi, how she pitied that boy, Hsariku always tended to give him nosebleeds by continuously calling him to her while she's getting out of the shower.

"Mm, Orihime Inoue, human/immortal, she is an advanced healer and isn't exactly the smartest out there and then there is Kuchiki Rukia," Tombi stiffened.

"Eeh…? Kuchiki Rukia as in the daughter of the Flower King? He let her be thrown to the Ice Kingdom? Even I find that hard to believe!" She exclaimed. Zibarraru swirled around the dark skinned girl's neck, enjoying being this close to her a bit too much…Momo nodded.

"Yes, she is Dragon/Human and has some powers of a dragon, her Sword spirit is ice type-"

"Now-now Momo! I don't want to be a stalker!" She scolded. Momo hung her head bashfully.

"I apologize Queen Tombi!"

"It's okay, come on, word must be spread to the other realms! Lord Hitsugaya and his second in command Matsumoto Rangiku have the Kuchiki heiress and the healer ditz!"

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><p>The first thing Rukia expected when being thrown in the icy realm was a huge wave of bitterness, not being clamped between breasts by a strange woman in a light blue kimono that barely kept those <em>things<em> in. The woman was pretty and seemed much too welcoming for Rukia's like, but Orihime didn't mind at all as the two seemed to get along quite well in the few minutes that Rukia was there. The blonde's attention snapped back.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I forgot to introduce myself! I am Rangiku Matsumoto, second in command for my irritable Lord named Toshiro Hitsugaya! He doesn't enjoy it when we call him Toshiro-I think he hates his first-But you didn't hear that from me!" She let out a sheepish grin, scratching the back of her head before grabbing the both of them in her arms and flying away with wings Rukia hadn't noticed until then. Orihime was shivering the whole way there; she hadn't enjoyed the feeling of ice whipping across her face nearly as much as Rukia did, and Matsumoto seemed to be used to it-well this _is_ where she lives she _must_ be used to it-and didn't mind much. Though the icy winds were quite distracting Rukia did not miss the off look the busty strawberry blonde keep giving her. She decided to look on that situation later. Looking below her he could only stare in awe at the place. Frozen ponds glistened in the pure light by the _two _suns. Snow kissed evergreens were barely seen in the white Wonderland and the raven haired girl had spotted countless amounts of bare trees made entirely out of ice. The group drew closer to the large white castle. In one big flap of her wings, Matsumoto made a clear landing, the few stray snow on the frozen ground billowing away.

"Wow…" Orihime gasped. In Orihime's mind, she had expected the place to be dark and bitter, the smell of death in the air and dead female bodies littered around the hungry lustful Ice Dragon-in other words; this was not at _all_ what she was expecting to see. The Large white castle had many peaks and windows from she could see, the highest part being one of the largest and it was wrapped around on a cone-like roof. The castle reached high into the sky. The humongous double doors were very much like the one they entered in besides it was by far bigger and it was silver instead of gold. Two life sized dragons almost seemed to dance on the door, ruby eyes glinting every so on. As you can guess, the doors were secured by two large Ice Wyverns with blue staffs in their hands.

"Who dare demand entrance in Lord Hitsugaya's Domain?" The first one boomed making the women's hair blow back from the force. Matsumoto broke into laughter.

"Mou-Yashiroi! It's Matsumoto Rangiku-second in command under Lord Hitsugaya!" She shouted so the Wyvern's could hear her from so far below. Yashiroi's eyes widened.

"I apologize Matsumoto! I believe these are the Sacrificed Ones this year," He asked gruffly. Rangiku nodded, wavy locks swaying in the process. He nodded at his almost identical twin and the shoved the ice staff into the key holes and turned it clockwise earning a snap from them as they opened slowly. Matsumoto grinned and ushered the two stunned people into the large doors.

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><p>The first thing you think when you see a large fire phoenix heading towards your castle is #1 ambush and #2 something juicy is happening in that boring ice domain. Lady Hsariku stared out from her large window that showed view over her wonderful stormy land. Big masses of lakes and ponds dotted in her world, the skies were cloudy, rain, hail or sleet always hammered down from the dark clouds. There was never a day that she hadn't seen it raining or lightening ever since her LordHusband had died. Though he was irreplaceable, she found much of her heart recovering from spending time with Hisagi-kun. Such a good friends he is…Speaking of Hisagi, the said man was in her bedroom along with her having a debate over which element was best. The Lord was dark skinned and had pale azure/purple eyes with a beauty mark above her right eyelid and one on her left cheek. She had long white knee-length hair and almost always had a scowl on her face and had slightly fanged teeth. She was wearing a silk strapless laced corset with black in the middle and light purple on the other sides. A short black skirt was hugging her hips and laced black panty hose were on her legs. She already had on a black choker and high heels. Ah, Hisagi was trying his best to be more into his conversation with her Zanpakuto-who looked almost exactly like her besides, was more of a Werewolf-so he wouldn't have to get a nosebleed from staring at his Lord. The fire phoenix landed on her open window with a white-kind-of-torched letter in its beak with Tombi's signature. She quickly took the note and sent the animal on its way scurrying over to the small wooden table where she took a seat. Her Zanpakuto stopped arguing with the black haired male and looked over to her wielder.

"Sore wa arashi no kami to wa nanidesu (What is it Storm Lord)?" Her Zanpakuto said. Ukito Kiro spoke no English so she would have to carry out her conversation in Japanese.

"Sore wa akiraka ni sa rete imasen? Hana-nushi no musume wa aisu ōkoku no omo ni gisei ni sa reta Hitsugaya! (Is it not obvious? The Flower Lord's daughter was sacrificed to Lord Hitsugaya of the Ice Kingdom!)" Hisagi had leaped out of his seat.

"Watashi wa aisu-nushi ni dōjō, hana no aruji wa hijō ni hogo o koete imasu (I pity the Ice Lord, the Flower Lord is very over protective)!" He exclaimed throwing his hands in the air. Hsariku chuckled.

"Raito ōkoku ni arashi no urufu o sōshin, kore wa amarini mo yoidesu (Send out a Storm Wolf to the Light Kingdom, this is far too good)!" Ukito Kiro and Hisagi scurried out of her room. She could not wait to see the reaction of Byakuya when he heard that his daughter was handed out in Scarifice.

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><p><strong>AN: First CH., I know it was short but it's just to start it off. =3! Yes, Dragons Lords can take on a more Humane shape. And no, Hsariku does not have feelings for Hisagi like that, that would make me turn agianst my words. They're just good friends. And this is an HitsuRuki, not a HitsuHime or HitsuMatsu or a MatsuHime or stuff like that.**

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	2. As Word Slowly Spreads

**A/N: Yes people, I know I need a beta-reader because I make far too many mistakes for anyone's good! DUDE, I changed my profile pic for the FIRST TIME! Lol, that is Hsariku! That is how he looks like! I love the reviews you guys keep on giving me! MY FANTASY ANTICS ARE PAYING OFF! If you've read 'Silence of Night' most of the chapters have been replaced for the best of it, so go reread it! Anyways, onto the story…**

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><p><em><span>Sacrifice to the Dragon<span>_

_Chapter 2:_

_As Word Slowly Spreads…_

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><p>Rukia's eyes wandered around in the large main room of the castle. In her words, it looked more like big ballroom. The tiles were pure white-well besides the two 'dancing' ice dragons-with small fancy designs on it, on the roof-which was far up-were some ancient prophecies that circled around the ice dragon destroying and conquering something. A very large ice chandelier glistened almost magically around the room. There were two white stairs at either side of the room, from as far as she could see; the railing was made of ice. The sound of the doors clicking together nearly made the raven-haired beauty jump; she needed to get it together, she was in the Ice Kingdom, the Ice Dragon could try to do anything at any time and she shouldn't be getting scared over some small noises. Rangiku then stepped in front of them, fixing her blue kimono before carrying onto the staircase to the left. The sound off their footsteps made Rukia's gut clench and realization hit her like she had been punched. She had sacrificed herself to the dragon, there was no more freedom-<em>ever<em>. Her eyes lowered but she knew she had to suck it up, if she were to go into tears Orihime would follow in suit. Plus, it would go against her personality. Rangiku made a stop after what seemed like hours. There was a long hallway on either side. A big door (Though not as big as the entrance door) stood in front of them consisting of the same designs as most, Rukia really soon found herself sickening of blue and dragons. Rangiku took a double take behind her.

"Oh-you guys are still alive?" She asked rather surprised. Rukia's eyebrow's knitted together in a frown and Orihime whimpered a bit.

"What, are we supposed to be dead?" She snapped, instincts of being protective over her friends feelings rolling in. Matsumoto shook her head.

"No, it's just most of the time the women die before they even make it up the stairs, this is where it's coldest," She pointed to the frost rimming the door and caking the tile around it. "See?" Orihime's eyes darkened. Rukia swallowed the lump in her throat. Matsumoto's mood went back to cheery as he beckoned the women off of the windowless staircase. The brave second in command lifted up her foot, and in one big kick the door snapped open. Was that necessary…? The woman waltzed into the dark room.

"YO SHIRO!" She hollered. There was a low growl somewhere in the room and Rukia could easily see glowing cerulean eyes in the darkness. Matsumoto reached for the lights and there was a hiss. When the lights snapped on Rukia was _not_ expecting to see the Ice Lord look so…_young_. Though it would be rather hypocritical of her say he looked like a child, but she found no other way to describe it so-there-he looked like a child. Orihime was having a rather similar reaction to his appearance as well. For someone who worked inside of the dark and lived in a world of cold, he had a hell of a tan, even tanner skin than herself and Orihime. He had cerulean cat like orbs with short spikey white hair and single bang that hung over his right eye. He wore a blue kimono-How ironic- than had darker dragons swirling in it. She noticed the he had a scowl on his face (Hell, I would to! Living in all that damn cold…) and he looked tense (That and handsome). She saw his eye twitch.

"MATSUMOTO!" Again Rukia was left dumbfounded. Though he did look like a child, his voice was everything but. It was smooth, baritone and husky, something that probably would've killed plenty of women while passing by. Rukia did not let any emotion flicker in her eyes. Matsumoto grinned sheepishly.

"Mou Lord Hitsugaya you're such a buzz kill! And you're so boring! You need a girlfriend, and that's why they're here!" She shoved both Rukia and Orihime so that they took a step forward. Rukia couldn't even identify when he moved but all he knew was that he was there in front of her. She also noticed was that he didn't even bother to look at Orihime, but yet herself. He used his fingers to lift her chin so she had no choice but to face him. His glare remained. Her violet eyes "You're not an ordinary human are you?" He said releasing her and moving back to his desk. She shook her head.

"No, I am Dragon/Human," He nodded slowly while working on some file. He grunted in response.

"And you're not just any Dragon/Human," He said. It wasn't a question so Rukia did not speak. He continued. "You are an heiress from an Ancient Dragon," Rukia's eyes widened, but then they returned back to normal. She hadn't met anyone who was able to tell that right off the bat. There wasn't much any difference from a Dragon/Human and an Ancient Dragon-Decent/Human besides in the reiatsu, but Rukia did not let that flare, it would be very disappointing on Byakuya's account if his daughter couldn't even control her reiatsu. He continued again. "And if I am correct, more specifically you are an heiress under the Flower Lord." AH, Rukia expected such an answer. She nodded.

"You are correct." He nodded once more.

"Matsumoto, send them to their rooms. And next time-_do not_ do that again." He growled making Rangiku sweat drop. The busty blonde led the women away.

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><p>Neither the Light Lord, nor his wife was the one for gossip. Unlike the Light Lord's Wife's twin sister, they weren't the one to spread it throughout the Kingdoms in hope for a reaction of the great and mighty Lord Byakuya. But it seemed that this one had made an exception. The Light Kingdom was absolutely breathtaking. It was like a heaven. The sun always dappled on the pure fluffy clouds, there castle being white and having a golden radiance to it. BirdLions (I forgot what those are called, all I know is that they start a 'G') roamed the sky freely and at night, then all of the stars would shine upon the sky with the glowing moon. The Light Lord, Lord Fardochi Kimoyoku, and his wife, Lady Ingu, were walking around in the fluffy clouds of the Light Kingdom. Lord Kimoyoku had long red hair that went to his back with light gray eyes and pale skin. His wife was Lord Hsariku's twin sister and had looked everything alike to her besides that her hair was black instead of white and her eyes were green instead of purple. The woman was wearing a long cream colored dress with a white chocker with pearls on it. Lady Ingu closed her eyes.

"One…Two…Three," She counted down for when the Storm Wolf would arrive. The said messenger appeared in a zap of lightening and a spray of water. Ingu sighed as she rubbed her temples; her husband took the note and opened it, the messenger left. Their Zanpakuto's and there second in commands arrived at the slight pulse of distress coming off of the Lord. Haijuujaka, the Keeper of the Stars and Traveler of Light, was a very strange creature indeed. She was Ingu's Zanpakuto; she had a tail of a leopard, the paws of a rabbit, face and body of a seemingly six year old human with pale skin, she had short wavy blue hair with light blue eyes, ears of a wolf, two wings of a red-tailed hawk, and fanged eyes. Kimoyoku's Zanpakuto looked like an armored fighter with long yellow hair and blue eyes, though he had kept his face well hidden under his fighting mask. His name was Kumi Kota. There second in commands were Shunsui and Nanao. The four bowed.

"Yes Lord and Lady Kimoyoku?" The asked in unison. The married couple smiled.

"Send out our messengers, the Ice Lord has the Kuchiki heiress as sacrifice! This is something that does not happen often, I would be pleased to know that this note will be sent out to the next Kingdom, the Kingdom of Life!" Shunsui smiled goofily and nodded. Nanao bashed him over the head with her book. Haijuujaka saluted and jumped on Kumi Kota's back as he left in a flash.

"I hope you know that Lord Kuchiki and Lady Kuchiki will not be very pleased with the news," She said laying her head on his shoulder.

"I know, but I will find their reaction quiet amusing, the Ice Dragon Lord has best to run and hide," His wife chuckled-Kimoyoku could be funny if he wishes so.

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><p>Ichigo scratched the back of his head; where was that damned midget? He's with her for one moment and then next thing you know-she's missing.<p>

"UGH! That damn midget!" He hasn't seen her since yesterday! Lord Byakuya would have his head if he knew that he lost his daughter. He took in a deep breath closing his chocolate brown eyes. This was not the time to go apeshit.

"Where is Rukia?" This was. Ichigo swung his head around to face slate gray one and similar brown ones. He literally froze under Byakuya's glare. "Do not make me repeat myself boy, where. Is. Rukia?" Ichigo straightened up.

"I-I w-well-she was j-just here-"

"And when was that?" He hissed, a flicker of anger passing through his stoic façade. Renji scowled, wanting to slap the boy for being so stupid to lose the Kuchiki heiress. It is obvious that she is short-but to lose her altogether? That seemed almost impossible. Well Ichigo was known to the impossible, and losing Kuchiki Rukia happened to be one of his best abilities.

"U-um…ye-yesterday…?"  
>Byakuya's eyes thinned into slits. Renji gulped.<p>

"Find her-_**now**_." He growled dangerously low. Ichigo took off with Renji following behind him knowing well enough that the orange haired idiot wasn't going to get anywhere by himself.

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><p>Lord Hsariku broke into laughter walking down the sopping wet stone path in the Storm Kingdom. In her hand was a silver staff that held and amethyst in it, the Gem of the Storm, if she were to lose that a drought would come across her Kingdom bringing death everywhere. Hisagi was currently taking a walk with her through one of the floating bits of land that the Storm Kingdom owned. It was quiet and had a few tree there. The black haired second in command was currently commenting on Byakuya's reaction.<p>

"I mean-he is far too over protective! He will _murder_ the Ice Lord! Lord Hitsugaya will have to shove his pride up his ass if he wants to survive!" Hsariku held onto her sides and fell onto the ground, tears leaking down her face. Hisagi chuckled at his Lord's reaction-she could laugh at about everything.

"Let's just hope that the Ice Lord did not _touch_ her, Lord Kuchiki will not stand for that. Hm, we better pray that Hitsugaya's hormones aren't acting up!" She said before laughing at her own joke. Even though Hitsugaya is old by Human standards, 160 is very young by Dragon standards therefore saying that it is most likely the boy would not be able to control himself no matter how calm and collected he may be. Hisagi let a sigh escape his lips; he actually felt pity for the Ice Lord. If he were to do anything to the Kuchiki heiress _death_ would be like a savior for him.

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><p>Matsumoto led the two women into their rooms. She didn't want to give the rooms on separate floors from hers due to the fact that they might get lost-hell; she got lost every day-and that most of the Lords people did not know of their presence and would kill them. She led Orihime to a room exactly next to hers and Rukia to the one across from Orihime's. Rangiku had thought the one will go well with Rukia. The room was an off shade of violet with a silhouetted white dragon-Rukia now hates dragons-the bed was had a white comforter with strips of purple under it. There was a white night stand and dresser with a purple rug. It looked almost exactly like the room she had in the Flower Kingdom! Rukia shook her head.<p>

"How did you…?" She began to ask. Rangiku smiled.

"Let's just say it's a Dragon thing," She giggled before disappearing leaving Rukia _very_ confused. She then saw the old book off in the corner of her room; it was not there before. It looked awfully tattered and old. She advanced towards it and picked it up feelings the rough leather against her fingertips. It was cold-but someone had to put it there. Storing the odd thought in the back in the back of her head Rukia flipped through the book. She coughed and sneezed a bit as dust blew from it. She took a seat on her bed and decided to actually look through it. The title of it was too worn to feel or read.

'_A very long time ago, there lived the 10 Ancient Dragons. The Dragon of Storm, the Dragon of Darkness, the Dragon of Ice, the Dragon of Fire, the Dragon of Life, the Dragon of Death, the Dragon of Crystals, the Dragon of Flowers, the Dragon of Light and lastly the Dragon of Balance. Each kingdom has a Dragon, and each Dragon has a gem to hold their Kingdom all together. Should that Gem be broken that Kingdom shall fall to the earths._

_The Dragon of Storm was very mighty. It's Kingdom being the wettest of them all. With each battle cry or roar, it could be heard as thunder and lightning and rain in many other kingdoms. Its Gem was the amethysts, the purple that described the Kingdom of very well. They're warriors are Storm Wolves. It is the biggest Kingdom of them all, the most frightening also, in front of this Kingdom is the Light Kingdom and behind it I the Fire Kingdom._

_The Dragon of Darkness is also known as the 'Forever Dragon'. She is the Lord and is impossible to kill. Her Kingdom's Gem is an Onyx. Though if it were broken nothing would ever happen; her kingdom is the darkest ruins. The Kingdom of Darkness in fact is not a Kingdom, but the remains of a War Zone and the Deaths Kingdom defect land that had grown off of sorrow and dark feelings. The Kingdom's warriors are Ghouls and Deathly such. It is the darkest Kingdom in both spirit and land. This is one of the last Kingdoms from alignment from the Seireitei it is behind the Death Kingdom and in front of the Crystal Kingdom._

_The Ice Dragon is the strongest Dragon of them all. The Kingdom's gem is and aquarium, though it is not held within the Kingdom, but rather in a human that has never appeared for centuries. The Kingdom's land ide entirely out of ice as so the castle despite the looks. All of the Lords that take over this Kingdom will possess Hyorinmaru until the true Lord takes over and possesses it. Then Hyorinmaru will remain and die with that Lord. The Ice Kingdom is the coldest; it is also known as the 'Winter Kingdom' and the 'Frost Kingdom'. It's warriors are Ice Wyverns and Snow Serpents. It is the first Kingdom and is before the Fire Kingdom._

_The Dragon of Fire is a very infuriating dragon indeed. They are supposed to fall into a family of very rude and snobbish dragons. The Kingdom's gem is a ruby. The Fire Kingdom is mostly made of molten and more pointless and endless paths than any other Kingdom. Every plant life in that kingdom is alit and their oceans are made of lava and magma. Its warriors are Fire Phoenixes and Fire Gargoyles. It is in front of the Ice Kingdom and behind the Storm Kingdom._

_The Dragon of Life is not very strong. It is the weakest dragon of them all and only has the most intense power of them all in healing. Its gem is the Jade. The Life Kingdom looks like a jungle of plants and the Kingdom is very well hidden under all of the growth. The Kingdoms warriors are random plants from around the Kingdom. It is in front of the Kingdom of Light and behind the Kingdom of Flowers._

_The Dragon of Death is-'_

Rukia's eyebrows knitted together in a frown. The whole information about the Kingdom of Death was blank besides the few words.

'_The Dragon of Crystals is the most beautiful Dragon of them all. So is its Kingdom, made entirely out of crystals of sorts. The Kingdoms gem is the diamond and the quartz. There warriors are made of crystals. It is in front of the Flower Kingdom and behind the Darkness Kingdom._

_The Dragon of Flowers is a very long dragon. It is the longest dragon in all of Dragon history. Its gem is the Pink Tourmaline. The warriors are made from flowers. The flower Kingdom is filled with Sakura trees and lush green grass. It never has a bad day and it's either raining softly or pouring down. It is behind the Darkness Kingdom and in front of the Crystal Kingdom._

_The Dragon of light is pure. Never will the dragon cause war unless needed. Its gem is the topaz. The warriors are Lion/Birds and angels. The Light Kingdom looks like a heaven and has the most stars at night._

_And lastly, the dragon of all Balance is-'_

Rukia let small yelp escape her lips. This was impossible! She flipped through the rest of the other pages, blank, blank, blank, BLANK! When she looked through the book the first time all of the pages were there and had writings on them. Growing too frustrated with the situation she was about to throw it out the window when she realized it was night. But she only read one page! Reading one page would never take that long! But she did feel weird _while_ reading it…Rukia shook her head and just tossed the book out the window, but little did she know, she would fully regret that by all means. Rukia washed her face and just tried to go back to sleep. Though she found sleeping here was too easy…

* * *

><p>In the Fire Kingdom, Tombi and Hinamori were feeling something was <em>very<em> off. Hinamori's lips pulled down in a frown. Tombi had called upon her Zanpakuto Zibarraru, and he too felt that something was off. She looked around; the sky was redder than it has ever been. Her eyes widened. She knew what was happening, _he _was back. The Dragon of Balance. Someone must've let him free. Someone must've read the book. A furious roar escaped her lips. A power of the Dragon of Balance was a very simple but impossible one; they could shut down any entrance/exit/or contact from any realm and this one. Up far in the sky, she could see the large brown dragon in the sky.

"GOT DAMMIT!" She growled. She turned back to Hinamori.

"Go back to the castle! Guard it Momo!" The raven-haired Lord took Zibarraru into her hand before he turned into a sword. The Brown Dragon had spotted her and was hurtling her way.

"OPEN THE EYE OF THE DRAGON, ZIBARRARU!" She cried swinging her sword back. She became a dragon that looked almost exactly like Zibarraru. She took flight into the air and almost cursed herself as she noticed how fast the Balance Dragon was. A large cut appeared at both sides of her stomach and she let out a wail. The Fire Lord slanted her eyes in hate. This was the dragon that caused the Darkness Kingdom to crumble, believe it or not, the Fire Lord was good Friends with Darkness Lord, and they both shared childish looks (The Darkness Lord looked like a four year old though) and black hair though the Darkness Lord's was short. Tombi let a spurt of fire shoot out of her mouth, but the Balance Dragon dodged it _too_ easily. In one strike the Balance dragon had her crashing down onto the ground. He had gotten _much; much_ stronger from they had last fought. She found herself easily defeated, and a battle with anyone that the Lord losses, immediately their Kingdom becomes the winners' unless he doesn't want it. She knew well enough that was his main ambition, it was his main ambition for everything to be his. He hovered above her.

"_**AIZEEN!**_" She growled out. He snickered.

"Hm, I see you have gotten much stronger, though not strong enough to defeat me. Don't worry; I'll keep all of the Kingdoms in good hand!" He picked up Zibarraru and broke the sword in half causing both Tombi and he to disappear. Though they weren't dead they wouldn't be able to come back alive until the Fire Gem was put into a different hand. Momo was already in the Light Kingdom; Aizen had forgotten about her and released the seal.

"Don't worry, Gahato, don't worry at all! I'll save your friend Hitsugaya and his gem for last," And like that Aizen disappeared.

The next morning Rukia had almost screamed. There it was, that _god damned_ book. Cautiously, she picked it up and opened it, the Death and balance were still blank, but she able to read the next page.

* * *

><p>'<em>I thank you Rukia, for freeing me! And by this, I will help you and train you, just follow closely,'<em> It said. Rukia dropped the book onto the floor and the pages began to flip around.

'_Do not worry, I will not hurt you, I will help you, just listen closely and I will be able to train you well,'_ Rukia knew she shouldn't trust a book, but living in the realm of the Ice Dragon-he could do _anything_. She picked the book back up.

'_Good, now carry me around with you, everywhere, and then I will train you,'_ At that very moment Matsumoto had opened the door, the book disappeared.

"C'mon Rukia-san! Orihime and I are getting clothes for you, you should join us!" Rukia sighed and got up though she knew that creepy book was still somewhere with her.

* * *

><p>Ichigo began to sweat, the closer and closer he got to the Sacrifice grounds he couldn't help but fill the constriction in his chest. Renji and him had asked almost everyone around that area where she was, they didn't say anything, but they kept pointing to the Sacrifice direction. He began to run and Renji struggled to keep up. When they made it there the grounds were empty, it had already happened. Someone who was walking around the grounds neared the boys. She looked 13. Ichigo bent down so he could look at her face to face.<p>

"Hey there, have you ever seen a little back haired girl? Her name is Kuchiki Rukia-hime." The girl nodded very slowly. Renji trotted over to the spiky orange haired brute.

"Does she know where she is?" He panted crouching over. Ichigo nodded.

"Yeah, I have seen her," She whispered faintly. "She and a larger woman named Orihime had Sacrificed themselves to save me." Ichigo felt like his world had been dropped. It was impossible to reopen the Dragon Door until next year unless he went through the Flower Kingdom.

"Kurosaki-Abarai-with me, _**now.**_" When did Byakuya arrive, nobody knew, but all they knew that they were doomed. The young girl had assisted the men on their way back to the Flower Kingdom.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: HEHEHEEEE! I'M EVILLL!**


	3. You Do Weird Things to Me Kuchiki

**Warning: Chapter is completely random. It is irrelevant to the plot, nothing in chapter will be brought up later in this chapter. Filled with grammar errors and spelling errors. READ IF YOU DARE.**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

* * *

><p><em>Sacrifice to the Dragon<em>

_Chapter: 3_

_You do weird things to me Kuchiki…_

* * *

><p>"Anata wa ijiwarudesu! Hsariku ga anata o sukide wa nai riyūdesu! Anata wa watashi o mō sake o eru koto wa arimasen! (You're so mean! That's why Hsariku doesn't like you! You won't let me get anymore sake)!" Hisagi face palmed. You would think that the Storm Lord's Zanpakuto would be mature-but no-so Hisagi was stuck trying to take sake away from her before Lord Hsariku would wake up and murder him. He scowled and backed away from her slightly.<p>

"Kanojo wa watashi o yotte o shiri no baka o sukide wa nai baai, watashi wa ki ni shinai! Kanojo ga me o samasu baai anata to watashi no ryōhō no o shiri no kami wa sore o imaimashii tsuyoku hiku hitsuyō ga aru to shite iru (I don't care if she doesn't like me you drunk ass idiot! If she wakes up both you and I are going to have to haul ass god damn it)!" Ukito Kiro sighed and dropped the sake to floor carelessly. The glass broke and the black haired man wanted to choke her.

"Nani ga jigoku! Watashi wa sore o kurīn'appu shite imasen yo (What the hell! I'm not cleaning it up)!" He growled. Ukito Kiro frowned and got in his face. Mind you-the both of them were in her room arguing like they always did.

"Amarini modesu (Are too)!" Hisagi got nose to nose with the storm type Zanpakuto.

"Nai yo (Am not)!"

"Mo (Too)!"

"Nai (Not)!"

"Mo (Too)!

"Nai (Not)!"

"Mo (Too)!"

"Nai (Not)!"

"M-"

"MADE SHATTODAUN (Shut up)!" The both of them looked slowly to the angry lord. Her hair was very messy and she had bags under her eyes. Her clothes were disheveled and she looked like she had just arisen from the dead.

"Kare wa sore o kaishi (He started it)!" She pouted pointing to Hisagi. He gawked.

"Watashi wa shimasendeshita! Kanojo wa anata no yuka ni o sake o otoshita (I did not! She dropped sake on your floor)!" Azure eyes locked with the mess on the floor. Ukito gasped and shook her head.

"Shimasendeshita (Did too)!" He screamed back.

"Ka sugiru (Did not)!" She growled while balling her fists.

"Mo (Too)!"

"Nai (Not)!"

"Mo (Too)!"

"Nai (Not)!"

"Mo (Too)!"

"N-"

"WATASHI NO HEYA KARA DETE IKE (Get out of my room)!" Lord Shai screamed the loudest while pointing to the door. The two hung there head shamefully and bashfully.

"Mōshiwakegozaimasen…(We're sorry)" They said in unison heading out the door. Hsariku let her head plop back down on her silk pillow and stared up at the roof. Those two could argue through about _anything_. But as annoying as they were they are loyal to her. She then remembered something-Hisagi was in her room in the first place because all of his paperwork was there.

"HISAGIIIIIIIIII!"

* * *

><p>Tombi ran in the realm of darkness. As weird as the situation was she wasn't dead. She wouldn't be dead yet until she's been in the realm of Death for a few days. After a Lord and its Zanpakuto become physically dead their souls are sent to the Death Kingdom. There are two main function of the Death Kingdom. #1, is to be part of the 9 Kingdoms and #2 is to hold the souls of Ancient Dragon Lords. The Lord of Death can remake your physical body but it usually takes a few hours. Anyways, if you stay inside the Kingdom of Death without your physical being you become one of the dead ancient souls that haunt the dull place. The Kingdom of Death had graywhite seemingly endless oceans of sand. It had a few mall dead and brittle trees that were scattered every here and there. The sky was always night and remained starless with a large crescent moon that hung in the empty skies. The Death Lord was much like his twin sister-Yamiru or the Lord of Darkness-besides that he couldn't live forever. They both took on the bodies of young people with deep blue eyes-short black hair and pale skin. While the lord of Darkness looked more of the age 4 or 5 the Death Lord looked more of an 18-20 years old-which was the sign of faster ageing. Tombi almost fell over her own feet at the speed she was going. She kept on bumping and shouldering into faintly seen and transparent souls but she always muttered an unheard apology. She could see the Lord of Death just sitting out in the middle of his Kingdom watching the moon. Because she was a good friend the Darkness Lord it was most likely he would return her body-he wasn't mean like some of the other Dragons but was very nice and forgiving. She just pitied that someone as nice as himself was given such a hostile Kingdom. Tombi began to pant and he snapped his head towards her. He frowned.

"Tombi-san? What are you doing here?" He asked getting up to walk over to her. When he put his hands on her shoulders he was quite surprised to see that it went straight through. Concern filled his eyes.

"You're dead…aren't you?" He said quietly. Tombi nodded while catching her breath.

"Y-yes. I need you to return my physical body along with Zibarraru's-Aizen is back." She spat. The spiky haired Death Lord (Lord Shamashio Dei) pulled the sleeve of his black cloak down. Tied to his wrist were two onyxes (The Kingdom of Darkness was branched off from the Death Kingdom so they share the same gem). He only held the onyx for Lord Yamiru because she would've easily lost it. He took the black cool object and put it to Tombi forehead; it made a soft pulsing noise and Tombi was able to see a faint image of both herself and Zibarraru forming.

"We must go to my castle-your body could be stolen by other souls here." He muttered.

"Hai!" She cried following after him.

* * *

><p>The Darkness Lord-Yamiru Shuinjei-sighed. She hated her Kingdom. She's lived the very moment that all 10 kingdoms were made. She and her brother have now been living for 1,000,000 years. She found life very dead. She hated life and was sick of living. She didn't even know how it was possible for Shamashio to be so kind and happy if they lived for so long in darkness. Even if she was one million years old she has never been to any other Kingdom than the Death Kingdom and the one she ruled. The little excitement was from the few times that the Fire Lord had come over with the things from the Fire Kingdom. She really liked the pretty flaming petals. She called upon her second in command.<p>

"BLONDEY-CHAN!" In a flash the blonde second in command arrived. He kneeled beneath his Lord.

"Yes Yamiru-sama?" He asked quietly. Yamiru found much amusement in him. Usually her second in commands would die in the Kingdom of Darkness within 50 years. So far he's been her second in command for 10,000 years and lord knows how old he really is. That is older than the Storm Lord who was 7,000 years old.

"Come 'ere," She said while a wide grin spread across her features. She used her hands to beckon him near her. He gulped-he knew _exactly_ what she going to do. She did it like every day!

"Yamiru-sama…is this necessary?" He asked while shaking a bit. She pulled the black vial from her black hooded kimono.

"Yeah it is Blondey. Now come 'ere 'fore I personally walk over 'ere and beat tha' shit out of yer' head." He walked slowly over to his Lord as she poured the sticky black dye all over his hair.

"Yamiru-sama-I don't understand why you must dye my hair black like everyone else's. Every time you do so it turns green!" He shrieked. Yamiru's smile was still in contact with her face.

"Don't worry-it won't happen this time." She said while moving her small hands around in his hair. He gawked.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU SAID LAST TIME!"

* * *

><p>Everyone let us take a moment of silence to grieve for the innocent trees that were murdered in Toshiro's furious massacre of anger. He was panting angrily and from pure exhaustion. He's been lord for 70 years and he still can't reach his full potential as Ice Lord. Every time when he could feel the power surge of the oncoming strength boost there was always a restrain that made him feel like he had been socked in the gut. Hyorinmaru continues telling him that he is not complete and nor is his Kingdom without his gem its full potential. He was able to break through slightly more since the last two days (The days that Rukia and Orihime were there) and of course it would be noticed by the ever cautious and careful Lord Hitsugaya Toshiro. He wiped the sweat that was forming at hair line off while picking up a cold reiatsu.<p>

"What do _you_ want?" he spat while still panting. He heard nervous shuffling.

"I want to help you!" He turned and looked at the girl as if she had grown two horns and a tail. Determination shined in her eyes.

"It's not necessary so you may leave." He could literally feel her eyes burning holes into his back.

"It may sound very…strange…but I can tell you are having problems." He snorted; who couldn't tell he was having problems! The last Lord that had passed away had the whole Kingdom in shambles, half of the floating realms around his Kingdom are destroyed, his second in command won't listen and do anything, he has to deal with the Fire Kingdom-every time the Fire kingdom goes haywire (Which is all the time because the Fire Lord makes Rangiku look like a hard worker) he has to deal with the surges of heat waves melting off most of his Kingdom and he was the only known person with an ice type Zanpakuto that can repair it! Rukia sputtered noticing how dumb she sounded.

"No-I'm not talking about those kinds of problems. I'm talking about you're having issue with Hyorinmaru," Toshiro was once again caught off guard-he hadn't told anybody about his power issues. And how did she know what his Zanpakuto's name was? He turned to look at her his eyebrows were knitted together in confusion-an expression that was barely shown on his face with an exception for the times Rangiku get her paperwork done.

"How do you know about my problems?" he hissed his cerulean eyes narrowing in suspicion. A small blush covered her face and Rukia decided it was best to look away.

"I can almost…feel…it. It's almost as if when you can't push past that…" She searched for the right word. Toshiro was becoming more curious about the strange black haired heiress. "Barrier or restrain even. Whatever it is I can feel it every time it happens. Even before I came here. But I guess it's stronger now. It doesn't exactly hurt, though." It took Toshiro a little time to synch in what she was telling him. Deciding that dying of hyperthermia wasn't much of an honorable death he sheathed his sword.

"So you're telling me can feel what I feel?" The blush came back on her face. Why was she blushing? What was there to blush about?

"Yeah-though not exactly. But it's probably the reason why I can't seem to reach Bankai without feeling like someone had punched me in the gut!" She said putting two and two together. Toshiro nodded slowly suddenly interested in what the girl was saying-probably because it concerned himself (So he had thought…).

"Kuchiki what type is your Zanpakuto?" Usually he would've been able to detect other's reiatsu-it was another gift in being a prodigy-but she seemed to be very skilled in hiding things like that. Perhaps that's why she is so shy…He mentally shook his head wondering when exactly was he aware how the young Kuchiki acts.

"Oh, Sode no Shirayuki is ice type," She stated flatly. Understanding was slowly coming to him.

"Maybe that's why you can feel what I can. The Zanpakuto are connected to the soul and depending on what type of Zanpakuto it is the wielders are somewhat connected and more likely to have a better bond. It's probably because we're in the same Kingdom that it intensifies. You and I may be the only ancient dragon wielders that are ice type." It still didn't explain why she was able to feel his issues before she even knew or met him. That and why she was still blushing. Before he was even able to do much but scowl the petite raven haired heiress shunpoed to his side. Being slightly taken by surprise at how close she was to him (**A/N: Millimeters ain't got nothing on them…XD**) was not enough torture from fate because a few seconds later smaller hands were giving a very red and frozen Toshiro a back message.

"You're very tense."

'_No duh idiot I can freaking feel you on my back!'_

"You should lie down and go to sleep."

'_Yeah and I get so much time to do that between yelling at Matsumoto and doing paperwork.'_

"You can lay down on me, I won't mind."

'_Yeah and-WHAT?' _How naïve could she be? Pushing the stiff Lord down onto the ground Rukia rested his head on her lap seeing absolutely nothing wrong with the position they were in.

"Lord Hitsugaya? Are you okay? Are you sick?" She asked resting her hand on his forehead.

"_WHY KUCHIKI? WHY ARE TOUCHING ME?'_

For a moment the Rukia was sure that he had blacked out. It couldn't possibly be _that_ cold if she was feeling alright. But he was venting out and probably used all of his energy. A very smart/dumb idea popped into Kuchiki's head as she opened her mouth to sing. It was a song that Hisana had used to sing to her all of the time while she was very young. She stroked her hands through Toshiro's hair while singing it. Toshiro didn't understand why he had relaxed at her touch-as strange as it sounds. Her hands were cold and he briefly wondered if she was cold herself. Again he mentally shook his head wondering why he was concerning himself with people like her. He seemed to go in Down syndrome mode because he had closed his eyes and peacefully fell asleep for once in his life. Hell, you could even see the small ghost of a smile on his face! And he wasn't scowling while sleeping! Wow…Kuchiki could do some really weird things to him…

_'She might stab you while you're sleeping." _His instincts screamed.

_'I know she won't…'_ A small voice retorted.

* * *

><p><em>'You should stab him,' <em>Rukia's inner voice chimed rather evilly. She frowned.

_'I shouldn't….Actually; I have something to do…'_

* * *

><p>"NEVERRRRRR!"<p>

"DRINK IT GOD DAMN IT!"

"I MUST'NTTTTTT!"

"YOU MUSSTTT!"

"DO TOO!"

"DO NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

"TO-UGH! Kuchiki, why must you drag me into these childish arguments?" Lord Hitsugaya spat. They were in Rukia's room. Yesterday when she and Toshiro were outside-Toshiro was sleeping of course-after a few minutes Rukia had carried him back to his room due to his lack of any consciousness and put him in his bed and in return she had came down with the cold. Usually Toshiro would have asked Matsumoto to do it but when she was about 5 feet away from the door she said her boobs were going to die of hyperthermia and any maids that were going to assist Kuchiki had frozen in their spots leaving little frozen statues along his hallways. So after all that, it had left Toshiro the only one able to withstand the unstable cold coming off of her in waves. So there they were-on Rukia's bed and Toshiro straddling her around the waist trying to force fee her some medicine that was brought in from the Life Kingdom. She obviously detested medicine to the pits of everything and was struggling to keep her mouth shut.

"DRINK IT KUCHIKI!"

"NOOOO! NEVERRR-UGH!" Toshiro had managed to slip a few sips' worth of medicine her mouth but she had begun choking. He stopped for a moment.

"You alright Kuchiki?" He asked with little concern. She stopped moving and Toshiro backed up a bit.

"Kuchiki?"

Rukia took Toshiro's hesitant state as an advantage as she slipped right away from his loose grasp and dashed away. Toshiro took a few seconds to synch in that Kuchiki had just ran away at a speed that would even Byakuya proud.

"KUCHIKIIIIIIIII!" He screamed. Toshiro shunpoed to the doorway and looked both ways-she was at the end of the right side of the hallway. Toshiro wouldn't be able to catch up with her at his normal running pace but if he shunpoed he would get there quicker a fortunately catch her. But every time he shunpoed in his hallways-which was almost rare-he had always crashed into something that would later make him regret it.

"He goes nothing…" He muttered readying himself to chase after the sick girl.

* * *

><p>Orihime took in a confident breath. It has been three days already and she was very afraid to walk outside of her orange themed room without Matsumoto or Kuchiki-hime assisting her. But now she was conjuring enough strength and bravery to finally walk outside. She balled her fists up in determination.<p>

"I will do it!" She cried out softly. She reached for the door and opened it to only see a mad/crazy Rukia running out of her room while screaming and an angered/surprised Lord Hitsugaya chasing after her. She closed her door.

"Maybe next time…" (**A/N: XD! I couldn't resist!**)

* * *

><p>"O yaoya! Anata wa watashi-tachi no rīdā ni hanaji o ataeru koto ni narudeshou (Aw! You're going to give our leader a nosebleed)!" Ukito Kiro cried out while walking with her argue-buddy Hisagi. He snorted.<p>

"Naze watashi wa ki ni subeki? Kanojo wa chōdo sono kanojo wa watashi ga yuka ichi-men ni watashi no chi o motte miru koto ga dekiru shawā kara nukeru toki ni kanojo wa watashi ga mainichi o yobidashimasu! Tokidoki watashi wa josei ga watashi o korosu shiyō to shite iru koto o chikau (Why should I care? She calls me every day when she gets out the tub just to see my have a nosebleed! I swear she is trying to kill me)…" He retorted. Ukito Kiro smashed him over the head with a frozen-thunder/water bolt. She then looked quizzically at the mess of frozenness.

"E? Watashi wa fuyu wa kotoshi hajime ni kite ita shiranakatta (EH? I didn't know winter was coming early this year)?" She squeaked hiding behind Hisagi's bare back to avoid the little snowflakes falling down. Hisagi caught one in his hand but it melted a second later.

"Watashi wa shinakatta dochira mo (Neither did I)!" The two looked up at the Storm Lord's castle and sighed.

"Watashi wa Hsariku ga kaze o kyatchi shite iru to shinjite (I believe Hsariku has caught a cold)." She stated pointing up at the castle where continues sneezing and sniffling could be heard echoing through the Kingdom. Hisagi's expression fell as he put back on his shirt his devious plan to give his Lord a nosebleed by walking in shirtless crumbling to the ground.

"Rettsugō (Let's go)!"

"Hai!" She shouted following right after him.

* * *

><p><em>'Run the corner-Run the corner-YESSSS!'<em> Rukia chimed in her mind. So far the Ice Lord was lagging behind a bit and that left a perfect opportunity for her to get away. So far she had made it down 3 large stories and was still on a roll.

"HELL YEAH!" She screamed carelessly feeling energy course through her system with each step. Wasn't she supposed to be tired? Perhaps not because she was downing her fourth stairway.

_'I knew I should've never shunpoed!'_ He screamed in his brain. Damn it, the first few minutes he was hot on her trail and a second later he's crashed into Matsumoto who had for once in her life did all of her paperwork. Not to mention it was _fresh_ ink she used so the moment they fell the papers were smudged and ruined. Rangiku growled at her first in command.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" She screamed balling up her fist and waving it around. By then Toshiro was far from sight but she could still hear him saying, "AND DON'T FORGET TO DO YOUR PAPERWORK YOU LAZY IDIOT!" by reflex. The strawberry crossed her arms from the floor.

"And watch me not…Hey! WAS THAT LORD HITSUGAYA CHASING RUKIA-SAN DOWN THE HALLWAY?" She shouted in disbelief. A rather coy grin spread across her features as she found a way to get her Lord back.

"Oh, I got you Hitsugaya, just remember that!"

* * *

><p>"I SUPPORT BEING NUDE 100%!" Hsariku screamed while running around in her castle. She was wearing nothing besides her panties and a loose shirt with a blanket tied around her neck to substitute a cape. Hisagi and Ukito Kiro sweat dropped as they took another look at the prescription bottle with blank expressions.<p>

"Watashi-tachi wa shu Hsariku no bin kara happī kessei o ataeta shinjiru koto ga dekinai (I can't believe we gave Lord Hsariku Happy Serum from a bottle)," He said flatly as he watched the white haired first in command runaround her kingdom halfway butt-naked. Ukito Kiro sighed.

"WATASHI-TACHI WA KŌRI NO ŌKOKU NI SON'NA MONO O OKUTTA NANTE SHINJI RARENAI (I can't believe we sent that stuff out to the Ice Kingdom)!" She screamed. The both of them shuddered. If the Ice Lord were to come and get them…Well, it was a while back. Both the black haired second in command and the white haired Zanpakuto had thought it was funny to replace the Life Kingdom's medicine with the Storm Kingdom's own Happy Serum and had shipped it out to the other Kingdom's that had prescribed for it. Little did they know then that their plan would backfire. Hsariku lift her arms into the air and screamed joyfully. You could tell she was hyped up on Happy Serum because her eyes were a light shade of amber.

"WOOOOOOOH! NAKED RIGHTS FOREVER!" She shouted while taking off her shirt so that she was only in her black lace bra and underwear-well and the blanket/cape too. Hisagi had a massive nosebleed and passed out while twitching.

* * *

><p>Ichigo took in a deep breath as he carried the light weighted kid around on his back. Her name was Kyrotsukio (KI-RoH-TO-SUki-O)Ushiki. She has short pink jaw-length hair with big green eyes and pale skin. It surprised both Renji and Ichigo to hear that she was a dragonhuman breed just like Rukia besides she wasn't born from an ancient dragon. Byakuya walked silently in front of them while probably thinking of the worst way to murder Ichigo and Renji for letting his daughter be Sacrificed to the Ice Dragon. Kyro (Ichigo's nickname for her because he said he will _never_ live long enough to remember her full name) had her small arms draped around Ichigo's neck as she bent down to whisper something in his ear.

"What color do you want your grave to be-pink or red?" She asked while looking at the back of Byakuya's neck. Ichigo gulped and whispered back to her.

"Do you have blue?" She shook her head.

"No-Renji already chose that one while I was on his back."

"Okay then…pink."

"Alright!"

* * *

><p>Rukia was almost to the last floor, all she had to do was run down the right side of the stairs and she was home free! A big grin covered her face but soon left as Toshiro skidded into view at the end of the stairway.<p>

"YEEEEEE!" The white haired man shunpoed up to her and quickly held her body under his arms-she looked like some type of breathing and living luggage. She kicked frantically.

"I DON'T WANT TO DRINK ANY MEDICINE! IT DOESN'T EVEN TASTE RIGHT!" She screamed. He scowled at her while taking her back upstairs.

"Well too freaking bad because you're drinking it or else I will force you!" She slanted her eyes.

"You wouldn't dare!" Next thing she knew she was pinned up against the wall by the supposed-perverted dragon (**A/N: Mind you they were very close…It's so freaking suckish that there are no perverted faces here!**). A rather evil and smug smirk crossed his lips as he pulled out the purple vial from his kimono.

"NASHIIIII (No)!" She screamed. He shoved the spoon full of the weird tasting medicine in her mouth. He covered her nose and mouth so that she had to drink it unless she wanted to suffocate to death. He waited until he heard her gulp it down before releasing her.

"BLEH! Why do you care so much anyways?" She growled grumpily. Toshiro rolled his eyes at the obvious question.

"If you end up sick here Lord Kuchiki will kill me." Hell hath no wrath like an angry father. She was about to retort when she actually noticed that was a _really_ good reason-so she shut up and followed him upstairs. By the time she made it to her room she was really tired so she went straight to bed. Outside of her door two beings were fretting.

"Lord Hitsugaya do you know what you gave her?" Matsumoto hissed frantically and quietly to not wake Kuchiki up. The evening blue hue was casted in the sky and the two moons were out and shining. Toshiro nodded her.

"Yes-I gave her medicine!" He snapped getting angry at why Matsumoto was questioning him. The strawberry blonde shook her head and showed him the back of the bottle. He briefly read over it.

"So…?" He saw absolutely nothing wrong with it. She grabbed the edge of the paper surrounding the bottle. Another layer of waxy paper was behind the first.

"Storm Kingdom's Happy Serum…You've just been prank-ed….! What the hell was Happy Serum doing in here? Do you know how many antidepressants are flowing through Kuchiki right now! Oh God…" He panicked finally. Each Kingdom had something valuable that was traded off from Kingdom to Kingdom. The Ice Kingdom's was the ability to have any winter in all Kingdoms, the Fire's was for the heat ability, the Storm Kingdom was good for their crazy battle enhancers, the Light Kingdom were good for stars and suns, the Life Kingdom for their medicine and the ability to change seasons for all of the Kingdoms, the Crystal Kingdom for jewelry (Matsumoto had called it the most important Kingdom of all), The Flower Kingdom for the ability to give spring to all Kingdoms whenever and the Death and Darkness Kingdom for Lord knows what. Matsumoto took in a deep breath.

"Okay, get the guards to chain her down-we can't have her running around and doing crazy things to us,"

_'She has already affected you_,' A little voice in the back of his head purred. He ignored it 100% and went back to reality to see Matsumoto too did not want a hyper Kuchiki running through the halls.

"You, you and You," She began not even wanting to know their names. "Go tell Yashiroi to go make some metal chain restrains-no question asked!" They all nodded in unison and ran off. Hitsugaya face palmed-he now officially detested the Storm Kingdom.

* * *

><p>"COME ON! PWEASE?" Hsariku pouted.<p>

"NO." Komamura growled. Even though Komamura was stronger than Hisagi, Hsariku had used her rank as a trump card and made Hisagi her second in command by favorites. Komamura was in her room while Hsariku was on a chair tippy-toeing trying to groom his fur with a doggy brush. Not to mention she was still in her undergarments.

"But I'm you're leader!" She cried while going for another swipe with the brush. He folded his arms and shook his head.

"No way. You are drugged on Happy Serum and will most likely end up dressing me up." He shivered remembering the last time she was hopped up on Happy Serum she had called him over and dressed him up to make him look like a freaking cat-woman she called 'Katty Lady'. "How about you go turn Yachiru's hair brown and make Zaraki wear a skirt?" He's always wanted to see that as strange as it sounded. She giggled and left him alone to go bother the others.

* * *

><p>"Heeheeehehe!"<p>

Toshiro's eyes snapped open groggily. He was in his room and it was dark outside. He sat upright and looked around momentarily thinking he had gone nuts.

"HeeheeeheheHE!" The second one was bit louder and he swore he heard chains clanking on the floor. He rubbed his eyes and got off of the bed grabbing Hyorinmaru.

"Heeheehehehe!" The squeaky laughter could be heard traveling as he saw a silhouetted shadow move across the ground. Getting out of his room Toshiro looked around. The halls were empty. The first thing he did was check in Kuchiki's room. Her door was frosted and she wasn't in bed. Not to mention her large metal chains were broken and ripped off of the hinges. He silently cursed and headed off to find the Happy Crazed Rukia before she had did something she would regret the next morning. Toshiro looked outside where he could see two amber eyes glowing in the darkness. It went away in a flash. Running down stairs as fast as his legs would take him he burst through the two double doors. The two guards bowed to him but Toshiro hadn't acknowledged it. Soft snow crunched underneath his weight and he was able to detect her Reiatsu.

"PEEKA-BOO!" A voice screamed from behind him. Toshiro had a bad History with the word 'Peek-A-Boo' because the Crystal Kingdom's second in command-Ukitake Jyuushiro-had screamed the phrase every time he would drown him with so much candy. How he loathed candy…Anyways, Toshiro screamed like a girl and fell on his ass. The happy crazed Rukia grabbed his Zanpakuto and went off running-no-she went all 'Dragon/human' on him and grew wings and tail and went sky high. Seeing that he had no choice Toshiro let his ice wings out-including the tail-and followed after Rukia who still had the large chains connected to her.

"YAY!" She screamed while turning to face Toshiro. Her eyes were a brighter shade of amber-almost yellow-and it was very noticeable in the pure darkness of the Ice Kingdom. "We can play tag!" She flew up to him and tapped him on the shoulder.

"You're it!" She then rocketed into the sky and Toshiro felt his eyes twitch. He was woken up at about 3:00 o clock' in the morning to go play tag was some crazed heiress? Ah-hell no. He needed his sleep if he wanted to grow and he wasn't going to let pesky people like Rukia stop that.

"KUCHIKIIIII!" He roared going after her.

The Life Kingdom's Lord-Marayuki Suki-was a very independent Lord indeed. She didn't need a man and never will. But when she was informed of the things that were happening in the Ice Kingdom she was hell-a happy. She was going to wait it out before she would send out the message. Usually she would dislike romance but right now she was at her 'Floating Land Doors' looking for what type of ring would Lord Hitsugaya and Kuchiki/Hitsugaya Rukia like. Marayuki had short spiky burgundy hair at the top of her head and longer straight hair at the back. She had tanzanite colored eyes and chocolate skin with green fairy wings. She was wearing a long grass green kimono. The Floating Land Door was a door that every Kingdom had. It led entrance to the floating lands that belonged to your kingdom but was not connected to it. The door was huge and green with two fairies dancing around on it. The shapes of the lands were on the door and when she pressed on a small one it glowed indicating that-that is where she wished to go when she left her Kingdom. She stuck her Zanpakuto into it and turned it. After a few seconds the door opened up to the small land called Midori Hana-shi (Green Flower City) or mostly called Midori Hana.

Toshiro made another grab for Kuchiki but yet she was out of his grasp once more. She was so infuriating and always managed to move out of the way right on time. She held both Hyorinmaru and Sode no Shirayuki up.

"Reign upon the frosted heavens, Sode no Shirayuki!" What the freak? Toshiro saw that her sayings had combined both Sode no Shirayuki and Hyorinmaru together but it took on a form that looked more like Sode no Shirayuki. She giggled again and left Toshiro bewildered. He shook his head and his scowl took place on his face once more as he went after Rukia again. This time he got closer and closer and…SNAP! Toshiro grabbed her by the waist and abruptly pulled her towards him her back hitting his chest. He took his/her sword from the Happy Serum victim and it changed to look more like Hyorinmaru. He stared at the sword wondering what she had done.

"What did you do Kuchiki?" He asked. He knew that Ice Wielders were connected together but YEESH! If their swords blend together that has to be something. He carried her back to his castle-once more-and took her upstairs-again-this time he sat in her room on the edge of her bed. Some of the Happy Serum wore off so her eyes were a dark shade of amber.

"And you're here because…?" She said rolling her hands indicating for him to continue. He crossed his arms.

"I'm not leaving until you are asleep-I do not trust you." She rolled her eyes and plopped back down on her pillow almost being knocked out as she did so. He yawned and sleep was taking a toll. His mind went into Down syndrome mode and he found _no_ wrong in laying down in the same room-on the _same_ bed with Kuchiki. Oh how wrong he was.

* * *

><p>Matsumoto sneaked into Rukia's room to check up on the strange girl if she had broken out of her restrains. To say at least she did <em>not <em>expect to see her first in command with his hands all over Rukia's waist and his face nuzzled peacefully in the crook of her neck while curled up against one another. She silently 'aw'ed and pulled out her emergency camera before taking a picture. Oh yeah-this was going all over the Ice Kingdom and it's floating lands. No-_screw_ that-this was going ALL over the Kingdoms!

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Herm...**

**Join the HitsuRuki Army!**


	4. Through the Eye of the Storm

**Warning: Only some things in this chapter is relevant to the chapters. Most of this is irrelevant. There is 14,000 (14k) and more words in this chapter. Unless you feel like reading the whole thing, proceed to the very end of the chapter. Also, there are extreme OOC, grammar/spelling errors.**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

* * *

><p><em><span>Sacrifice to the Dragon<span>_

_Chapter: 4_

_Through the Eye of the Storm_

* * *

><p>"Soar, Rakuen no tori (Bird of Paradise)!" Kyro called out. Ichigo was absolutely awestruck. Who would've known that lil' Kyro had a Zanpakuto? During her Zanpakuto's sealed state it posed as a long pinkpeach feather with a green tip. But when the small pink haired girl would clamp her hands together on the feather and pull her hands away a large silver and white sword with light green, peach/pink and orange streaks and two feathers hanging off the end would form. He patted his hand on her head and she growled loudly.

"Good job Meron (Melon)!" He laughed. The angered small girl waved her sword around.

"Damn you Kurosaki!" She hissed glaring at him. They were outside of the Grand Hall where Yamamoto lived. It was a large palace like area with no grass but was filled with green evergreens. Byakuya was in the large building getting permission to leave the Seireitei and to get to his Kingdom, but sadly his Kingdom door wasn't budging which meant he would have to take the _long_ way to his Kingdom. Renji was getting hell-a nervous and began fretting and paid no attention whatsoever to Kyro trying to kill him for stepping on her foot. The green eyed girl sighed.

"I swear if he steps on my foot again he's gonna have to deal with more than Lord Kuchiki," She muttered darkly. Sadly for her feet, the pacing Renji had trampled right over her poor toes. She reacted with immediate seething and began to grab her foot and hop around on the other.

"BAKA! You little red headed freak! You shall now fear the power of feathers! KAZE TABI-WA (Wind Traveling Feathers)!" A mass of long, bladed colorful feathers came swishing Renji's way. The tattooed male was only given seconds to respond before the sparkling feathers sent him on a wild goose chase. Ichigo looked over at Kyro.

"Wasn't those feathers supposed to stop chasing him now?" He asked while looking at Renji-he was running from colorful feathers with his hands failing and screaming for his life. She grinned.

"They travel with the wind, if the wind stops, they stop and luckily for me it's a windy day!" She grinned. Renji ran past them again with the feather-fury still hot on his trail.

"SAVE MEEEEE!" Byakuya walked outside of the building and sent death glares to all of them, obviously not in a good mood.

"What is the meaning of this?" He hissed. The wind suddenly stopped as the same for Renji and Kyro. The feathers fell to the floor and became harmless.

"Uh…Nothing Lord Kuchiki, sir!" She said while bowing. Ichigo sweat dropped.

"Come, we must leave now, Yamamoto has allowed us to leave through his doors." He said with no emotion. Believe it or not, Yamamoto was the 'Lord' of the Seireitei. Even though he was not a Dragon or an Ancient Dragon he was the most skilled fighter amongst the very large land. Kyro sealed her Zanpakuto back to the feathery state and put it behind her ear.

"Alright!"

* * *

><p>"YEEEEEEE! YOU RAPIST!"<p>

"WHAHHH? I'M NOT A RAPIST!"

"WHY WERE YOU TOUCHING ME?"

"I-UH-UGH-UGH JUST SHUT UP GOT DAMN IT!"

"NOT UNTIL YOU ANSWER MY QUESTION! WHY. WERE. YOU. TOUCHING. ME!"

"I WASN"T TOUCHING YOU!"

"Technically you were,"

"STAY OUT OF THIS!" They both screamed. Matsumoto shrunk back into the corner of the violet themed room. AH, this is exactly what happens after you let your Lord sleep in the same bed as the Kuchiki Heiress. The two had been going at it for ten minutes straight of Rukia accusing him as a rapist and Toshiro denying it and saying he must've have done that unconsciously. Again Rukia had taken it the wrong way.

"LISTEN! I WAS TIRED AND I JUST FELL ASLEEP ON THE SAME BED AS YOU KUCHIKI-NOTHING HAPPENED!" He growled. AS you could tell there were many maids and servants gathering at the door to witness the two screaming at each other.

"THAT'S A LIE! THEN WHY WERE YOU SO CLOSE TO ME! I DON'T WANT YOU TOUCHING ME!"

"You are such a brat!"

"Well you are a pervert!"

"Well you look a stereotypical vampire!"

"Well at least I'm not orange!"

"I am not orange!"

"Yes you are!"

"No I am not!"

"Yes you are!"

"NO I am not!"

"YES you are!"

"Am NOT!"

"Are TOO!"

"Am NOT!"

"Are TOO!"

"Am NOT!"

"Are TOO!"

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT!"

"TOO!"

"NOT-UGH! STOP DRAGGING ME INTO POINTLESS ARGUMENTS!" Rukia crossed her arms together and snorted.

"So you find you trying to rape me not important?" Toshiro gaped and felt his eye twitch but Rukia had steered him around and shoved him out her room before locking the door. Rukia had the last laugh.

"PERVERT!" She shouted from her room. Toshiro rubbed his temples trying to see if that idiot had left him any peace of mind. He checked-nope! All he could think about is the ringing in his ears from her big mouth. She was very different from the other Sacrificed people. #1, they would never talk out of place or even talk at all and if he were to raise his voice they would be immediately silenced, #2 _no one_ has gotten under his skin like she has. Usually they are so easy to ignore but fate seemed to love to falter his cold logic and make her personality an opposite of what he prepared for. He sighed and shook his head; he shouldn't be letting simple things like her get to him.

'_Simple things Toshiro? That's hardly what I would call her.'_ He heard Hyorinmaru chuckle. Toshiro rolled his eyes at his sword spirit that enjoyed giving him some confusing riddles.

'_I don't know what you mean, Hyorinmaru,'_ The large ice dragon has seemingly 'left' the white haired male some peace of mind by returning to his Inner World. Toshiro rolled his eyes, he hated the over grown Popsicle.

* * *

><p>Matsumoto sighed. Those two were acting like they had spiked each other's drink last night and woke up butt naked! GEESH! Luckily, she had the perfect solution for the situation. Well, more like she got a fucked up Storm Kingdom solution…problem starter…thingy. She cackled evilly while pulling the yellow vial out of her sleeve. It was in a test tube. It was a prototype that Ukito Kiro and Hisagi (They swore on each other's life to do everything together) had created. Those idiots named it Tamashī (Tamashī no suitchi no baiaru Japanese for the Vial of Soul Switching) and had gave her only that weird substance because she said she had some test subjects due to the fact Hsariku had prohibited them from doing that. All she had to do was pour the equal halves into their drinks and then BAM! They pass out and wake up in each other's body! She believed it was the right solution because they did not RESPECT EACH OTHER BY ANY WAY! She cackled evilly and began to prepare some tea for both midgets.<p>

* * *

><p>Hsariku sighed while opening her eyes groggily. She had been sleeping for 16 hours straight after having Hisagi put her to sleep through a kido spell. Outside it was dark and condensation was building up on her large stained glass windows. Her hair was very messy and she was sure she was looking a mess due to that fact that she had the black haired second in command use the kido spell outside. Hsariku quickly got up and bathe which was followed by the very long decision to look like a suitable stuck up queen, or the care free idiot. Carefree ALWAYS won. She took a deep breath and looked down at all of the paper work she had to do. Most of them were just about simple things going on in the Floating Lands, a few of them happened to be a little troubling but nothing that she couldn't handle. Before she could do much anything her door slammed open. Three angry men with black, brown and blonde hair busted through with angry expressions. Her day had officially gotten worse. A deep scowl crossed her features.<p>

"What do you want Yanagi (Willow), Kumo (Cloud) and Juhi (Bark)?" She hissed. Juhi, Yanagi and Kumo were her three 'parents'. They were the lowly Storm Kingdom ambassadors who had adopted her from the outer skirts of the Storm Kingdom's floating lands and had brought her in as a maid who worked directly under the heir of the throne (Whom became her husband later…and then died). They were very mean and thought far too highly of themselves and much too lowly of blamed them for all the wrong in her life. Juhi-the black haired one-pulled a large scroll out of his black hakama. She knew well enough what it was. It was the stupid rolled up scroll that went had required _all_ storm lords and lady ladies to marry or remarry. Those bumbling fools knew of her situation and her issue with remarrying people in honor of her beloved husband. Yanagi-the blonde one-laid the scroll in front of her which showed far too many suitors for her. Yanagi was often mistaken as homosexual for his looks and the way he spoke, he had short perfectly cut blonde hair with ash blue eyes, a small thin lipped smile graced his lips almost every moment and he was highly distrusted. He wore to pink and orange fathers at the top of his head. She slowly regretted becoming the Lord of the Storm Kingdom. But it wasn't her fault that she didn't know that he (her Husband) would die so soon after marriage. She scoped through the parchment. From what she could see, all of the suitors were picked off of nobility and status, not love nor relationships or strength status! She was strong enough to protect herself and her Kingdom but some of them didn't even have Zanpakuto's and others couldn't even pass the ranking of seventh in command. She frowned and slapped the scroll off of her desk.

"I agree to none, I will be damned if I let Iyashi (**Kitty: NOM NOM NOM! RayRay: NOMM NOMM NOMM! Kitty: NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM! Carmen: SHUDDDDAPPP! Kitty: Iyashi is Hsariku's Husband**) down by marrying some bastard who couldn't even protect themselves." Yanagi grinned wickedly, his ash blue eyes taking on an untrustworthy glint.

"Well isn't death such a beautiful thing?" He purred. Hsariku went stone cold and bad memories flooded her brain.

_(Flashback)_

_Hsariku walked quickly down the halls of the Storm Kingdom. It was her first time in there ever since her adoptive fathers had brought her here from K__ō__gai: Senkai-f__ū__ (Outskirt: Whirling Wind), which was one of the Storm Kingdom's Floating lands near the end of the Kingdom. At this time Hsariku looked a little younger. Her hair was only back length and her teeth weren't as fanged as they were now. She was also a little short and of course her attitude wasn't exactly stable causing her to lash out on almost anyone. She was assigned to work under the heir to the throne Iyashi Zakuro. At first, her 'fathers' had disagreed. At first she thought it was for her safety, she had learned from other maids that some past Lord's or high ranked dragons in commands would rape or sexually assault their workers. But she then learned it was not for that reason-no way it actually be for that, they didn't really care of for what happened to her-but the fact that if Iyashi were able to actually be able to tell her Reiatsu it would be most likely she would be given a position for two reasons-one, her Reiatsu was STORM and she was in the STORM Kingdom-Storm reiatsu is what the needed and two, her reiatsu was high for just a lowly maid. Yanagi had feared those most because if she were to gain higher ranking-even the lowest command ranking-would surpass there position and they could be easily punished for the mental abuse they have been giving her ever since they adopted her. And in fact, they only adopted her so that they may possibility play favorites with the Lord by 'using' her 'famine qualities' as a lure for a higher position. Hsariku looked from side to side admiring the violet colored walls of the storm Kingdom. Outside was clear with an orange and pinkish hue going on as it set and the beautiful colors stained the floors with light. Without any clue of where she was going she had accidentally slammed into something hard. She fell on her butt with a thud and winced at how much it hurt._

"_Ow, damn it!" She hissed. When she opened her eyes the last person she expected to bump into was definitely Zakuro. She was very surprised at him; she hadn't exactly seen him in real life. His eyes were a weird shade of purple; it seemed to change from different shades. And his hair was long and black with dark gray streaks visible in it. Not to mention he was DAMN SEXY! A deep red blush covered her cheeks but she shook it away and her awestruck appearance changed from mesmerized to angry._

"_What the hell! Did you not see me at all? I know your stupid but damn I didn't think you were blind too!" A scowl crossed his features._

"_I am not blind you lowly maid! If it weren't for my state of illness I would have you killed!" he growled. The azure eyed girl got up._

"_Excuses, excuses! You know you wouldn't be able to kill me even if you weren't sick!" Slowly and little by little there spiritual were rising, though it did not go unnoticed by Juhi, whom was walking down the hall at the very moment. His eyes widened at the scene in front of him. Hsariku was excreting a lot of spiritual pressure but that was the last of his concerns'-the heir would never want to promote someone who pisses him off, but if word were to spread about his adopted 'daughter' getting in a an argument with the heir he his chances of being in a higher position was dramatically jeopardized. He quickly grabbed her hair and yanked her down on the ground causing and a few strands to tear. Iyashi wasn't exactly pleased with his brash behavior but he was glad that he put the argument to an end._

"_Control your beast," He growled while fixing himself and walking away. Hsariku growled dangerously low but again her hair was pulled, but this time a little harder. Juhi kept his grip on her hair and dragged her away pulling her hair every now and then until he reached outside._

"_Are you damn stupid?" He snorted. "What type of question was that? Your stupidity is getting to me. OF COURSE YOU'RE FUCKING STUPID! Who the fuck do you think you are screaming at the heir! Do you know what he could do to me, Kumo and Yanagi? I don't even give a damn about you right now and I sure as hell don't give a damn about whatever happens to you! Just be a __**fucking**__ smart dragon and shut the __**hell**__ up. If you ever see him, bow-screw that-KNEEL to him for God's sake!" She was only left to gape at him in fear and when she became unresponsive he slapped her square on the cheek. The loud noise echoed through the usually busy Storm Kingdom and it drew attention from some passing by people. The black haired man cursed a bit before turning around and leaving her there to just get over it. From up in a large Willow tree Yanagi grinned. Yumichika, fifth in command of the Storm Kingdom, glared up at the wrongful blonde man._

"_I hope you know one day that she'll get revenge _Yanagi_?" He hissed while stressing his name. Yanagi cackled and let his eyes lower to Yumichika._

"_Oh-ho…please do tell me when this time will come because I would really _love_ to see this." Yanagi wasn't finished, but for once a small frown took over his features once he realized he was again talking to somebody with a much higher position in the Storm Kingdom. "Anyways Yumichika, what would you do? She is in our property, not yours. What we do with her is none of your concern." The small thin lipped smilde return as he saw the faintest expression of anger flicker on the black haired man's face. Yumichika walked away._

"_She is not property to you, or anyone, she is her own being. A beautiful being…something that will never be as ugly as you." A small angry gasp escaped Yanagi's lips and he growled darkly. Little did anyone the heir have seen it all…_

_(Flashback)_

"_Ah yes, I have been looking for her for some time now, perhaps have you seen her? I would love to bring her to my Kingdom where we could be reunited!" It was the hopeful suggestion from the newly made wife of the Light Lord, Lady Ingu. The two had been separated when they were very young and ended up in different kingdoms and now she had the authority to look in other Kingdom's for her. Kumo, Juhi and Yanagi stiffened. They could not tell her about Hsariku, not at all. There were so many reasons, #1, they were in the Lord's -Lord Mizo Zakuro-main office where he and Iyashi were sitting waiting for an answer, #2, if they figured they had been mentally and physically abusing the __**sister**__ of a Lord's wife death would be their savior, #3, Mizo would most definitely not give them a higher position if he figured out that they abuse people. Yanagi shook his head and smiled coldly._

"_I'm sorry dear, no sister here." Ingu lowered her head, her black hair cascading her face. Kimoyoku gave her shoulder a squeeze. She looked back up slowly, her eyes were glazed with tears and a small sad smile was on her face._

"_If you do see her, you should be able to tell. We are twins besides her hair is white and mine is black and her eyes are purple while mine is green. I…I thank you for the help, Lord and Heir Zakuro and Ambassador Yanagi, Kumo, and Juhi." She let out a shaky breath and turned around with her husband behind her. Iyashi felt a pang of realization, sorrow, anger and shame. He realized that he has perhaps seen someone as Lady Ingu described, he felt sorrow for both the Lord's wife and sister, anger for not remembering who it was and of course shame because he had feeling he knew who it was but treated her so badly. As soon as the lowly ambassadors left Iyashi hopped out of his throne to go find her. Lord Mizo stopped his impatient and motherless son from leaving. The old long bearded man stared in curiosity at his son with dull eyes._

"_And where are you going?" He asked with a glint in his eye. Iyashi was so much in a hurry he didn't notice it._

"_Just finding somebody." He said quickly while inching towards the large storm doors that led out the office._

"_Just don't get into trouble." He sighed knowing well enough that his message would be ignored._

"_Ariguato Mizo!" He shouted from all the way down the hallway. Luckily for the black/gray haired heir he was easily able to find her, her white hair and light purple eyes stuck out so easily._

'_Just as Lady Ingu described…' he thought. From the tears on her face he could easily tell she's probably ended up hearing the whole thing…probably even from beginning to end._

"_Hsariku…" He whispered. She kept her head low and was silent. Heir Iyashi's eyes softened as he wrapped his arms around her, taking her by surprise._

"_Z-Za-kuro-sam-sama…?" She asked while being highly unsure if whether to embrace it or reject it. Over the years since she had first made it into the Kingdom she had learned to stray away from the higher ranked dragons so she could avoid the wrong and abusive ways of the lowly Storm Kingdom ambassadors. This perhaps was as close as she thought it was going to ever get to any high ranks. He tightened his grip around her._

"_Iyashi…just call me Iyashi…"_

_(Flashback)_

_Most of the dragons were dressed in all black, not many were crying because they didn't exactly know past Lord Mizo like Iyashi. Though he didn't cry, because of his awfully depressed state the Storm Kingdom clouds almost seemed to cry for the death of Mizo. He didn't die in battle or such, it simply of old age, and let anyone call him selfish he didn't want his father to leave so soon. Maybe the only reason why he wasn't losing his mind was because very good friends with a certain ranked officer with the name of Hsariku. Though she was given a low position, Kumo had immediately disagreed with the newly made Lord. Luckily for him his ranking had only slimly given him the ability to alter her adoption so that she could be a ranked officer despite their word. Anyways the black and gray haired Storm Lord stared at Mizo's body from the purple casket. Hsariku was dressed in a black thigh length Kimono with dark arm length gloves, and a little lip gloss and make up was dotted here and there. She looked absolutely stunning. Speaking of the seventh in command-she happened to take a spot right next to him. His eyes were dull and distant, but only when he was aware of her presence he snapped out of the trance._

"_Mm…Hsariku, how are you doing?" He asked with concern A humorless chuckle escaped her lips._

"_Many would think after _you_ lost your father _I_ would be the asking the question, not the other way around…Iyashi." She said while smiling softly. The purple eyed man sighed and scratched the back of his head._

"_Yeah-yeah…I guess," He said while looking at his feet. He was able to feel a comforting smile coming from Hsariku._

"_Don't worry Iyashi…I'm there for you,"_

_(Flashback)_

_Hsariku panted and wiped her forehead, she was hell-a tired from practicing with the Lord. Second in command position-she made it there. She came from being a lowly maid with an attitude to somewhat highly respected ranked dragon. Serves those lowly Ambassadors right…She sighed and swung her sword in a downwards motion._

"_Saisho no shokku wa, gurando kiba M__ū__n o furu (First Shock, Ground Shaking Moon Fan)!" A large wave of lightening exploded from the tip of her blade and hurtled his way. Even though the move was dangerous it wasn't quick or strong enough for the Storm Lord to fear it. In a simple clash with his Zanpakuto- Kakky__ō__ (Kakky__ō__ o teisuru no raion wa sand__ā__zu- this move was destroyed and Hsariku was left awestruck._

'_So easily…He can destroy one of my strongest moves so easily, hm…I WANT STRENGTH LIKE THAT!'_ _A big grin covered her face as she rushed over to Iyashi._

"_IYA!" She chimed while calling him by his ridiculous nickname. He sheathed his sword seeing that whatever she was planning to do, it had nothing to do with training. Once she made it to him she bent over a bit and panted._

"_IyaIya! You…You so strong!" She said while being too lazy to use correct grammar. She glomped Iyashi._

"_Teach me-Teach me-teach me-teach me-teach me TEACH ME!" He rolled his eyes and gave her a hug._

"_First you have to do a favor for me?" He purred. She looked up and scowled._

"_And what would that be?" She growled. He chuckled._

"_Simple…kiss me." A rather smug smirk crossed his features when he saw her look a bit owlish. A small smile then took over her stunned look and she neared him until he could feel her warm breath against his cheeks. She looked into his eyes with her arms wrapped around his neck._

"_One word for you Iyashi…" She whispered seductively. "NEVERRRRRRRRR~!" A big goofy grin smothered her face and Iyashi gawked. She left his embrace and burst out in laughter._

"_YOU THOUGHT YOU WERE GONNA K-K-KISS ME! BWAHAHA!" Tears were pouring comically from her eyes and she found herself having to hold onto her sides for support. "WHO WOULD WANT TO KISS YOU? PFTT-BWAAHAHA! YOU ARE SO UNKISSABLE" She laughed while pointing her finger at him. Iyashi sulked a bit before a very evil idea popped up in his mind._

'_She's just like a silly pretty gazelle about to be hunted down by the mighty Storm Lion,' he thought to himself. He only referred to himself as a 'lion' because his Zanpakuto was one. He could literally feel Kakky__ō__ glaring down at him and his 'evil plan'._

'_Pervert,' He growled. Iyashi silently snuck up behind the cackling girl before turning her around by her shoulders and forcefully pressing his lips against hers. She looked stunned for about three seconds before she kissed him back. When they pulled away he was met by her hellfire death glare._

"_They Lord is totally kissable."_

_(Flashback)_

Hsariku stopped herself there. Traveling through memories wasn't going to help her. A large thunderbolt noise nearly scared her out of her wits. When she turned around to look out the window she noticed the disaster outside. The clouds were literally pitch black with lightening that struck randomly out of the clouds and with thunder so loud it could even drown out her dragon-form battle cry. Rain carried large ice chunks of sleet with it and the rain looked as if it could've pierced one's skin. It must've been from all of the reiatsu she was excreting. She noticed that the lowly ambassadors were pressed against the floor from all of the reiatsu. She eased up on it and watched as the three almost literally. Yanagi growled at her and took a step for forward.

"You stupid bastard! How-how dare you excrete spiritual pressure like that! YOU DAMNED BEAST!" Kumo watched silently as the seemingly-homosexual man screamed at Hsariku. Her lips pulled down in a frown.

"Get out." It was a demand. Yanagi paused for a second to let in the fact that she had interrupted him.

"Why you-"

"I said-GET THE HELL OUT!" The three stared in fear for a few seconds before silently leaving. She let her back hit against her seat and closed her eyes as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. There was a moment of silence.

"I need a break," She whispered. After a few seconds there was another silence before a wisp of wind slapped her hair back. She immediately snapped her eyes and looked around…nothing. When she looked down she was able to see a card of advertisement that wasn't there before."

"Eh…? Hana no shima (Island of Flowers)…? I've never heard of that floating land before." She said while frowning a bit and leaning closer. Just looking at the card made her feel as if in paradise. "Well I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to take a break once in a while!" She said while getting up to leave. Little did she know about how wrong she was…

* * *

><p>Hisagi sighed and rolled his eyes. He was out in a Floating Land called Kuro Kumo Shi (Black Cloud City) and in other words…or just Ukito Kiro's horrible translations…Shop Till You Drop City. He face palmed, he has been dragged through THIRTY shopping stores already for that weird Japanese-speaking, no-English-whatsoever, storm Werewolf to buy some DAMN PANTIES AND BRAS! It was embarrassing enough that he was in a Floating Land dedicated to shopping but it was humiliating to go bra shopping with the Storm Lord's Zanpakuto! Before Ukito Kiro could purchase the undergarment a big pulse of reiatsu was even felt in the floating land with a great distance from the actual source. He growled low.<p>

"Damn it…it must mean those idiots have been screwing with her," he muttered while speaking to himself. Ukito didn't seem to notice for she was speaking to the clerk in…French?

"Oh vraiment? Comme c'est intéressant! Je ne savais pas que les petites culottes en dentelle me faire paraître plus sexy! Eh bien ... Je vais prendre celui-là pour s'il vous plaît! (Oh really? How interesting! I didn't know that black panties make me look sexier! Well…then I'll get that one too)" Hisagi's expression fell.

"Anata wa Nippon no, Oranda-go, Chūgokugo, Afurikānsu-go, Furansu-go, Heburai-go, Supein-go, Porutogaru-go o hanasu hōhō o shitte iruga, soredemo hitotsu no eigo no tango o kuchi ni suru hōhō ga wakaranai! (You know how to speak Japanese, Chinese, Dutch, Afrikaans, French, Hebrew, Spainish AND Portugese but you still don't know how to utter a single English word!)" He screamed while throwing his hands up in the air. She turned around from where she was while looking slightly offended.

"Watashi modesu! Err ni, ayamaru...(Yes I do! Err, err...)" She opened her mouth a few times and closed it before she said something. "Hi." Hisagi rolled his eyes and dragged her out to go return to his Kingdom.

* * *

><p>Matsumoto cackled evilly as she sat there and watched the two sleeping bodies. Those idiots were going to WAKE UP with some hell.<p>

* * *

><p>Tombi stared out her room window for a moment longer before closing her eyes. She had gotten her Physical body back days ago but Lord already knows that there was no way that she could because his Kingdom doors had been sealed by another dragon other than himself. Their best guess was Aizen, the bastard seemed limitless and was probably near that position. Keyword: <em>was<em>. When Lord Hitsugaya of the Ice Kingdom was first appointed to the position of First in Command he had no choice but to fight Aizen. The evil brown haired fool and his 'minions' were screwing up with the Balance of the other Kingdoms.

He was once the Mighty Ancient Dragon of the Kingdom of Balance but when he committed such a crime he was revoked: when he threw the Kingdom's out of balance, both physically and spiritually. The casualty rates were extremely high in each Kingdom because of him.

Anyways, Hitsugaya and Aizen had ended up battling through 5 Kingdoms in total. Some Lord's like Iyashi and the past Life Lord Yoru (Yoru no Ha, Night's Leaves) ended up dying trying to stop Aizen.

The battle ended strangely; Aizen randomly disappeared before Hitsugaya could deliver the killing blow. He disappeared without a trace besides the trail of destruction. Death Lord Dei had looked for months and months over the Land of the Ancient Souls to see if he could find him, but came to no avail. Many Kingdoms became paranoid after that, though it was for the best because he returned. Sadly, the other Kingdom's had believed that Ningyō Michi (Puppet and Unknown), a newly arisen lord would bring the broken Kingdom back to relief, but were wrong for Ningyō Michi was one of Aizen's unseen followers and brought him back from Lord knows where he was. And to make it worse he had his gem with him, Umiyuri no kaseki (That means Crinite. Crinite was the Balance Kingdom's Gem).

When Ningyō Michi and Aizen had returned, Lord Hitsugaya was given no choice but to defeat him again, but her disappeared the same way as last time. The rest of the Dragons had destroyed the Balance Kingdom for good and also destroyed there Kingdom doors to the Seireitei in fear of another Aizen-type dragon. Hitsugaya hadn't done that only because in his eyes the idea was ludicrous and he's the one who fought him.

Tombi sighed, all of it was ridiculous, and it was just the second part of the three steps in the prophecy on the top of Toshiro's Kingdom roof. That was only mild destruction compared to the last step of the prophecy. The prophecy stated that after the first two prophecies the Ice Lord and the Balance Lord would clash again.

* * *

><p>Hsariku looked around in Hana no shima. It was beautiful! Many green and colorful flowers and plants were everywhere, large thick palm trees touched the sky, and a large sun dappled ocean lay before her with soft tan sand. The sun was setting an orangepink/peach/plum colored hue across the sky with darker colored clouds. She stiffened; it was so strange to her. It was different. And it worried her, no, not because she had never been to a place like it before, it was actually because it was the farthest Floating Land ever from her Kingdom, and so far she couldn't even tell what was going on at that moment. She sat cross-legged in the sand and let the warm breeze whiz past her ears and wisped her hair away in different directions. She closed her eyes next thing she knew she had fallen asleep.

* * *

><p>"MATSUMOTOOOOOOOOO!" The Hitsugaya in Rukia's body screamed. Rukia slapped his arm.<p>

"Stop it! You're going to break my vocal cords!" She shrieked. Matsumoto was hanging on top of the chandelier in Hitsugaya's bedroom while trying to avoid the hellfire from the two. Well yeah, the prototype worked-a bit too well-but she wasn't aware of the 'Angry Midget' Side effect that was included! She rubbed her temples while using her other hand to hang onto the ice light source to not fall to her doom.

"You guys need to stop! Really! I mean all you guys have done all this time is argue and argue and argue! Maybe if you find something that you guys have in common with each other my ears-I MEAN-yeah I mean MY EARS won't get blasted off every time I end up being within f feet of you two!" Hitsugaya huffed and folded his arms together.

"Well what the hell makes you think that being Kuchiki's body is going to do anyone any good?" He hissed. He really exactly didn't look scary at all, Rukia was too damn adorable and innocent to look tough, but the glare was doing a hell of a job. Matsumoto gulped and watched as the chandelier swayed back and forth slightly from her trembling body. Thank God that her Zanpakuto was a cat which gave her the ability to land on her feet, hold onto stuff, and have nine lives…right? Rangiku gave a shaky smile.

"Well you may be 'impressed' with her." She said while double quoting around 'impressed'. Toshiro gave her a flat look because of her stupidity. Number one, she used the _both _of hands for air quoting around her perverted term, and Number two he was _not_ going to be 'impressed' with her body like that dumb creep had said. (**So he thought…=UUUUUUU=**) . Hitsugaya rolled his eyes at her when she came crashing down on her butt.

"So much for landing on my feet…" She muttered while rubbing her behind. Rukia scratched her head.

"I'm very confused…" She said quietly. Toshiro looked over her, it was _really_ strange seeing himself without being in his own body.

"Well stay confused," He gave a hell of a death glare to the busty blonde on the floor. "You don't want to know."

"But I do." His eye twitched. How naïve could she really be? I mean, this was BEYOND naïve; it had just crossed over to being plain _stupid_.

"Whatever…Matsumoto! When does this stuff wear off?" he growled. She grinned sheepishly.

"Well I exactly don't know, but…"

"But what…?" He asked.

"But we have some type of time capacity to go by! Hisagi said it's not forever!" A very blank look was given her way.

"You better run Matsumoto." He hissed with a sickly sweet smile on his face. Rangiku didn't if to be scared or awestruck by the Kuchiki's adorableness. She chose scared and ran away.

* * *

><p>When Hsariku woke up fear clenched at her stomach. It was dark; it actually looked about twelve by all of the stars shining. She looked from left to right when realization hit her. She had been in Hana no shima all day. Usually she wouldn't have been scared, at all. But this was different; she's never been gone for so long in a place so far. Yes, she has left her Kingdom a few times before for even longer (She had left her Kingdom for 20 years straight when she was appointed Storm Lord after Iyashi died) but it was too different. She quickly picked herself up and traveled as quickly back to her Kingdom as possible which took about ten minutes. As soon as she made it back to her Kingdom her worried feeling had gone away completely.<p>

Because it was replaced with absolute horror.

Her Kingdom was in shambles, her castle was toppled everywhere, the rubble was scattered in large and small chunks all over the ground. Water and blood was sprayed along the floor and the clouds were black and heavy but no rain fell. On the ground she was able to see three figures on the ground, no, it wasn't Yanagi, Juhi and Kumo, it was Hisagi, Ukito Kiro and Hinamori. They looked equally battered and tattered and they all were in a puddle of their own blood. She walked slowly up to them with her jaw clenched so tightly together it bled a bit.

"H-his-hisagi…?" She asked shakily. He stirred a bit and she ran over to him and got on her knees. She lifted up his head and put it in her so that he was facing her.

"Are okay! Please be okay…" She whispered softly. A gave a small smile.

"Well isn't that an obvious question," He began to cough a bit. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding…she was just glad that Hisagi was still alive or else there was no way she could. Though Hisagi and she were on the same position of strength. She wasn't weak, he was just really strong. She used some Kido to heal him first before moving onto Hinamori then Ukito Kiro who seemed to be in the worst condition. Her face was grim.

"W-what happened to her…?" She asked while healing her soul spirit. She looked at the very large gash near her mid-section.

"She took a blow for me; it could've killed me too." She knew who 'he' was.

"It was Aizen wasn't it?" She could tell he nodded. "What happened to all of my other subordinates? What happened to them?" She asked with panic swelling in her chest.

"We don't know," Hinamori spoke up softly for the first time. They heard a small gasp and could see he flinch and she began to look frantically around.

"Wait-Hinamori! You're going to reopen your wounds!" She shouted.

"Nononono! We're all doomed! I failed the Fire Kingdom…I failed Fire Lord Tombi!" She screeched. Hsariku grabbed her shoulders and turned her so that she faced her and stopped ranting.

"What. The hell. Are you talking about." She said hoping that it wasn't what she thought it was. Hisagi stiffened.

"He…he couldn't have taken it!" He bellowed. More fear rose.

"What did he take?" She hissed. Momo looked down,

"He took our Gems, he took Moeagaru (Rubī no moeagaru, Flamed Ruby) and Murasaki (Purple)!" Realization hit her-that's why I wouldn't rain, because I wouldn't be able to rain until Muraski was returned.

"Damn it! Lord knows what he will do Moeagaru and Murasaki! And I highly doubt he left the doors open, were leaving." She said with fury burning in her eyes. Hisagi stiffened.

"B-but what about Kenpachi and the others! We can't leave them here!" Her face expression was cold.

"Kenpachi is also at my power Level, he knows how to defend himself and others." The group then left.

* * *

><p>Sadly for the two midgets, Rangiku had managed to run away. But they would get there revenge…on each other. Did switching help them respect each other? Nope because they're arguing right now.<p>

"No that is ridiculous Kuchiki! Ice beats snow any day!"

"What? That's retarded! You must be drunk to believe that!"

"Your just mad that you would never beat me with you petty sword." She glared at him.

"Petty? Why you…" He ignored her and walked off while trying to also ignore the strange looks the maids and lower ranked dragons were giving him for talking to 'himself'. She stopped talking.

"Where are you going?" She hissed while slanting her eyes.

"Where I go does not concern you."

"But you're in MY body!"

"Vice-versa." She growled at his one word stomp. Damn it, that's all he had to say and then conversation was ended.

"Jerk…" She muttered. Toshiro indeed would not let her go away without being punished for all the stress that she had been giving him. He walked quickly over to Orihime's room and knocked on the door. It was about a few seconds before the busty air headed red head had opened the door.

"Mou! Hello Rukia-hime! Please come in!" She said while yanking her in. She closed the door behind her.

'_Okay, be stupidly naïve…and then everything shall go fine,'_ he thought. He flashed Orihime a bright smile.

"Well Orhime…" He thought of the most embarrassing and humiliating way to say what he was going to say. "I guess I must have lost all of my memory from Toshiro's absolutely beautifully handsome face, but I can't seem to remember perhaps…the most embarrassing things about myself?" Orihime just smiled at him and Toshiro mentally sweat dropped.

'_Note to self, Kuchiki's friends Inoue is a ditz.'_

"Oh, okay! I kind of go like that when I look at Kurosaki-kun," She said while blushing and giggling. Toshiro just gave her an uneasy smile. He thought that being a female was easy, he thought all you had to do is just bitch about everything take about two days just decide what you're going to wear…to sleep and then just bitch about everyone! In other words: it was too damn hard.

* * *

><p>Rukia sighed and stared at the pile of paperwork on Hitsugaya's desk that was extra stacked and had just toppled over onto the floor. She sweat dropped but then scowled a bit.<p>

'_He was being mean; I don't have to do his work!'_ She just sat at his desk and thought about plans of revenge.

'_Prehaps I could destroy his office-no, he'll catch a heart attack and won't even survive to see me gloat, what about if I freeze everything in my path…no he probably does every day…then what about-'_

'_How about you make him gay for today,'_ Shirayuki chimed in. At first the idea seemed absolutely absurd, but then she could slowly see his reaction he ended up getting his body back looking like a drag queen with a bunch of other men chasing after him.

"That's perfect Shirayuki~!" She purred while smiling a bit. She swore she could hear his cheeks creak.

'_He must NEVER smile, I wonder why…? Hn, whatever.'_ A few maids that had passed by the door had actually took a step back and did a double take to make sure that it was actually_Hitsugaya_ that they saw smiling. Rukia was too busy thinking out her evil plan she failed to notice the people gathering in his office, they were very hesitant to even step in the ice caked area. One brave seated dragon took a step forward.

"Ice Lord Hitsugaya…are you okay?" She asked. Rukia snapped back to reality and looked around at them. A Cheshire Cat grin covered her face.

"Yeah I am perfectly fine," She said in the gayest voice that he could muster. "But your Lord is going gay."

* * *

><p>Tokuku sweat dropped and gulped. Lord have mercy on her souls because they way that Hisana was glaring at her could've easily killed her. News had finally gotten to Flower Kingdom that Rukia was handed out to the Ice Dragon of the ice Kingdom. As anyone could tell-Hisana was <em>not<em> pleased. Tokuku could've very well passas a 14 year old, she has bright pink hair that was sort of spiky and messy near the front of her face. She also had tan and big green eyes with two big buns at the top of her head. YuniYuki also was mostly caught wearing corsets and skirts most of the time and despised wearing Kimonos. Hisana growled again and had the sudden urge to stomp her foot like a spoiled brat.

"Tokuku," he said with fury still burning in her eyes. The pink haired female gulped again.

"Y-yes Lady H-Hisana...?" She asked and prayed to God that the 'harmless' married woman would not wring her neck just for being in her presence. Hell hath no wrath like an angry mother who's daughter had been give away to some pervert.

"Where's Byakuya?" She asked while clenching her teeth and forcing a smile so the second in command wouldn't wet herself. Voritorna, her Zanpakuto, stepped foward and bowed to Lady Hisana. Voritorna was long pink hair that went up to her waist and very tan skin, she also had light green eyes and wore a Kimono was pink flowers on it. Yep, Voritorna was also a flower type Zanpakuto.

"I apologize Lady Hisana, Flower Lord Byakuya was supposed to be here a few days ago, the time in Seireitei is much different from the time in the Flower Kingdom." Believe it or not the times amongst the Kingdoms were dramatically different. What could be two days in one Kingdom could be a month in another, what may be five minutes another Kingdom could be five hours in a different and what would seem like a few weeks could be at least a year in a neighboring Kingdom. Hisana sighed.

"Very well," She sent a death glare to Tokuku who was known to make up lies for her first in command. "But if you see him tell him that I want him….and no delays, the moment he steps into the Kingdom is about the perfect time." A sickly sweet smile was sent her way. "Now you may leave!" She most likely had just found the perfect way to kill her husband.

* * *

><p>When the two midgets had walked past each other in the hallway for what could be about seven hours lets just say there appearances weren't exactly…<em>suitable<em> or _'wonderful'_. Rukia's eyes nears flew open when she saw what e had _did_ to her! She looked like a prostitute! And all of her close friends now she didn't like to wear short things! But Toshiro's reaction was just pure gaping. Rukia had straightened out his fluffy short hair and put a big pink bow in it, there was _lip gloss _and_ makeup_ up on his face, she had PEIRCED HIS FREAKING EARS and he was wearing a pink kimono! Not to mention she was making him SMILE! Everybody knows that the mighty Ice Dragon doesn't smile!

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BODY!"

"WHAT DID _YOU_ DO TO MY BODY!"

"I DIDN'T DO ANYTHING YOU PEIRCED MY EARS!"

"And not to mention you now have a tattoo with my name on it on your leg…" She lifted up the ends of his kimono to see that a newly made tattoo of Rukia's name was _actually_ on his leg. He was going to pass out.

"YOU MADE ME LOOK HOMOSEXUAL!"

"YOU MADE ME LOOK LIKE A PROSTITUTE!"

"WELL YOU CAN EASILLY CHANGE! I HAVE TO HAVE MY SKIN REMOVED AND LORD KNOWS _WHAT_ I HAVE TO DO TO GET THESE PEIRCING'S CLOSED!"

"What's all the screamin' about…?" A voice spoke up groggily, they looked up and down…and the back up again. What was up with Matsumoto and chandeliers today? They glared at her from where she was. Her eyes were half open but in a matter of second's her eyes were budging out.

"IYAH! Hitsugaya I knew you didn't like women but geesh I didn't know you were gay!" A big grin covered Rukia's face and Hitsugaya was scowling and sulking even more. Matsumoto laughed nervously.

"Oh, that's right you guys are still soul switched!" Slowly and Ice block was forming in Hitsugaya's hand from behind his back. He was gonna chuck it at her…

Matsumoto rubbed her eyes.

"I'm sorry I can't do anything! Probably if you guys have a confession session then you guys would switch back…perhaps…?" Rukia cocked her head.

"Confession session…?" She asked slowly. Hitsugaya rubbed his temples.

"You don't want to know…"

_(Flashback)_

"_SHIRO~!" Matsumoto chimed while using her foot to slam his office doors open. He growled at her when she turned on the lights and began to hiss when she stepped in. She walked over to his desk with her nose stuck up in the air and pulled a blue lollipop out of her sleeve. He had no time to react before she shoved the 'disgusting' thing in his mouth. He choked and spat it out._

"_What the hell do you want you she-demon!" He spat. She pulled a seat out and sat right in front of his desk._

"_Let's have a Confession Session right now…I'm depressed." She muttered while laying her head down on his desk. He turned his head slightly side ways._

"_A confession session?" He asked. He did not like the word 'confession' because the things that he kept to himself would be better off untold._

"_Yeah, you know…the thing you do when you're desperate enough to talk to a cold anti-social?" He growled at her definition. She chuckled nervously._

"_Sorry, sorry. It was a low blow. Anyways let me tell you about my day…" Warning alarms went off in his head. Anytime a female said 'Let me tell you about my day' it meant that you were going to get scarred for life if you didn't get the hell out soon. He got up but nearly shrieked when he ended up finding out that his body was tied to the chair. She pouted._

"_I can't have my only talking buddy get away now can I! Well today me and Azumi were walking down a shopping mall in one of your floating lands when I had these horriibbbleee cramps. At first I ignored when I saw this really cute shirt but then it turned out I had my period! And so…" Toshiro's eyes continuously twitched throughout the whole 'Confession Session' and he heard learned things he could of lived without. He had a bad feeling that his sleep would be plagued with the wrong images and side stories and weird freaky gossip that his Second in command managed to keep up with. Afterwards, Toshiro ended up having to go to the bathroom and threw up his guts._

_(Flashback)_

He shivered.

"No…No Confession Sessions…remember I _banded _them for reason." He hissed. She grabbed the both their backs and shoved them into the nearest room before looking the door. She turned off the lights and it became pitch black besides the crack under the door.

"OK, none of you guys are getting out until some confessions are said…now…what do you two think of each other?…And no interrupting, you must wait until that person is done speaking." She sniffed. There was a low growl from Toshiro but Rukia spoke first.

"Well I think that _Ice Lord_ Hitsugaya is a very mean and cold and heartless jerk who has the weirdest looks. I personally think that his face muscles must have frozen in his Kingdom because it is literally impossible to make him smile. And yes, from my horrible and life scarring Seven hours in his body making him smile made my cheeks hurt. I also think that he is horribly cocky and from the times I have passed by the office I can easily tell that he uses his position as a trump card to force people to do stuff for him,"

"PREACH IT SISTER PREACH IT!" Matsumoto hollered from the area by the door.

"Matsumoto I do no-"

"Hitsugaya stop interrupting people!"

"But-"

"NO EXCUSES!" Toshiro silenced himself.

"Now in _my_ opinion I wish to slap him. But I have much self control and can keep myself from doing as dishonoring as that." Matsumoto clapped her hands.

"Kuchiki, I believe you are the most idiotically naïve idiot that the world has ever created. You are _beyond_ the word stupid and you just know exactly how to piss me off." He couldn't believe he was doing this.

"I am not naïve! Or stupid!" The was a small pause.

"Well aren't you going say anything?"

"HITSUGAYA NO INTERRUPTING!"

"But-"

"NO EXCUSES!"

He growled at his very retarded second in command.

"I would **much** prefer if you would sop bringing me into your idiotic conversation and quit pestering me. I. Am. **Not**._** A pervert**_!" Well Toshiro perfectly knew that he actually _is _a bit of a pervert himself-Hormones are taking a toll-but he had some self control and without them he would have PERFECT SELF CONTROL!

"Okay! Confession over! Now when you guys may get your body back call me OK~?" She chimed while shoving them out the room and scurrying away.

* * *

><p>Konata sighed softly while munching on a load of ice cream that Ukitake-her second in command-had gotten her. Konata was the Lord of the Crystal Kingdom. She had short blonde hair with a tuft of pink in the front of her hair line. She had pale sky blue eyes and had pale skin. She originally looked like she about 30 years old while in her normal form, but she had always managed to persuade a valuable member of her Kingdom-Mayuri Kurotsuchi-to make an elixir of sorts to make her look around the age of four. Konata sighed softly while munching on a load of ice cream that Ukitake-her second in command-had gotten her a few hours ago. Konata was the Lord of the Crystal Kingdom. She had short blonde hair with a tuft of pink in the front of her hair line. She had big pale sky blue eyes and had pale skin. She originally looked like she about 30 years old while in her normal form, but she had always managed to persuade a valuable member of her Kingdom-Mayuri Kurotsuchi-to make an elixir of sorts to make her look around the age of four. She just wanted to be as cute as Yachiru from the Storm Kingdom! Yamiru, Lord of the Darkness Kingdom was also cute but she always looked dead and bland with no expression. There was always something dark about her...<p>

"TAKE-SAN!" She while glomping the unsuspecting victim. The white haired man had just returned from the Life Kingdom and had gotten a check up from Unohana-second in command of the Life Kingdom. She personally thought that he always pretended to be sick just to see the kind but yet fearsomely scary-from what the Storm Kingdom says-but she knew well enough that his dangerous disease was more than real. Ukitake chuckled a bit and patted his leader on her back.

"You just don't want to grow up do you?" He asked with a kind grin. Konata shook her head.

"I want to be young FOREVERRRR! Now give me piggy back ride…that is if you are okay…?" She asked slowly. He gave her a pat on her head and swooped her up and put her on his back while shunpoing at a speed that wouldn't hurt him too much.

"WEEEEEEEE!" She screamed while tossing her hands in the air. Ahh, life was good while being young….that is if she wasn't really 11,000 years old.

* * *

><p>At the end of the day the two sat outside on the large ice-caked balcony right outside of Shiro's room. It was not and Rukia realized while there wasn't two moons the moon was much bigger than the one in the Flower Kingdom. It literally looked as if she were to stick her hand out she would be able to feel it. A few minutes ago there souls had switched back-THANK YOU JESUS-to the original body but yet they had decided that they could enjoy the night of silence a bit longer. Rukia stared intently at the moon and held her jaw tight together. The damnation of it that moon was just too damn close…Unknowingly a 'tick' appeared at the side of her head.<p>

"How dumb can you be….?" He muttered/growled from beside her while rolling his eyes. She gave him a questioning look.

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb with me Kuchiki. You were staring at the moon so hard someone would've sworn you were going to howl at it." He hissed. She was taken back.

"I was not staring at the moon and I was certainly not going to howl at it!" She spat back trying to keep whatever cool she had left. He rolled his eyes.

"Hn, whatever." Rukia momentarily swore she melted all the snow around her with all the heat coming from her head. She clench her fists and looked away to prevent digging holes through his back with her eyes. If looks could kill…she took the rather satisfying thought out of her head and focused and taking in deep breaths and counting to ten. She closed her eyes and focused on the anger controlling trick Tokuku YuniYuki had showed her.

'One slap on his face…two punches in the gut…three stomps on his feet…four kicks in the chin…Ugh this is not helping! That Idiot I swear I'm gonna-'

"And now your thinking about hitting me." He stated as if she had just wrote she was thinking on a document and handed it out to him. She sniffed and folded her arms.

"I most certainly was not." She dug her claws into her skin to avoid scratching his face off. She kept her teeth extra clenched together to avoid biting his head off.

"You have such violent thoughts Kuchiki. One would think that Lord Kuchiki would teach his daughter better anger management." She growled low in her throat.

"I am very well controlled." She hissed through clenched teeth. That damn bastard…

"No, you're not. It is very easy to see that right now all of your you violent thoughts are directed towards me." She finally snapped.

"Damn it! Of course I want to have most damn violent thought directed towards you right now! You are insulting and pushing my sanity and Lord knows how long I can keep this up! It's almost as if your doing this on purpose to get a rise out of me..." There was a small silence. "You little bastard!" She hissed while trying to wring his neck. He already moved out the way so she had ended up hitting he stomach against the floor. He growled dangerously at her.

"Do not touch me." He then got up. "I'm leaving." A rather evil thought entered her mind. She quickly got up and ran over to him.

"Wait! Before you leave I must tell you something..." She tippy-toed and rested her hands on his shoulders. And then she became very close to his ear...

"You have a little one," She cackled evilly walked away while leaving Toshiro very embarrassed and flustered. He looked down with a brick red blush on his face.

"I do not have little one." He whispered back very insulted.

* * *

><p>The next day they had been going at it like there was nothing else to do. It seemed as if Matumoto's 'cure' had only caused them to argue more! A few hours ago, when the sun was just rising above the horizon, Rukia had woke up. So she was bored and began to draw a Chappy version of herself, Orihime, Nii-sama, Ichigo and Renji. So the egoistical brat had the nerve to sneak up on her, get real close to her and tell her that her drawings sucked! What was the bastard even doing in her room? And then later on while he was sleeping Rukia had frozen him to his bed and forced him to look at the Chappy drawings that he had insulted. A little after that, around noon, the raven haired female had found herself bored and her only entertainment was bothering the annoying Ice Dragon. She sighed and got up while feeling slightly betrayed that Orihime had left to go with Matsumoto to Lord knows where.<p>

'_Iyah, they both have too many stuff in common for me…both have bigger breasts than me, both look beautiful, both have orange hair, both love shopping, both can stay happy all day…geesh this is going to be a hell of a list.' _She thought while sulking and shuffling to Hitsugaya's bedroom. When she got there she was beyond the word bored and if he didn't get out of his room and stop taking his nap he was going to _pay_. She lifted her arm knocked on his door. A large silence engulfed the large blue hallways causing her to huff a bit.

'_I swear if that idiot thinks he's getting away with this…'_ She growled in her thoughts. She lifted her foot up and aligned it with the door knob….and…BOOM! The door flew off it's hinged and hurtled straight at the sleeping Shiro. He immediately woke and tossed the larger object off of him.

"WHAT THE FUCKING HELL WAS THAT FOR!" He shouted while throwing his hands up in the air. She sniffed and closed her eyes.

"I am severely bored and since my only two friends here are not present you-my boring ice filled sock monkey-are my only source of entertainment. So there-entertain me." His grip on his covers tightened and his eyes twitched.

"Boring ice sock monkey? Source of entertainment?" He hissed through clenched teeth. "I AM THE RULER OF THIS KINGDOM DAMN IT! NOT YOUR PERSONAL FOOL!" Rukia rolled her eyes.

"Well at least you admit to being a fool…" She muttered. He gave her an icy glare.

"What do you mean?"

"Well you said you may not be a _personal _fool, you still left the option of being _a_ fool open so I now dub as _my_ fool until further notice." He swore he was going to rip her head off…

'_Calm down Toshiro…she is doing this to get a rise out of you, just remember, do what she says and then get her when she's not looking. Perfect~…'_ He chimed evilly while a rather sadistic smile covered his face.

"Okay then, first let me get dressed. I will take you to Fuyu no Hikari." She he said with an even tone. Rukia's eyes snapped open with shock before a small confused and suspicious frown covered her face.

'_What are you planning Hitsugaya?'_

* * *

><p>When the two made it to the Large Door that led to the floating lands everything was going perfectly fine. The two argued along the way-<em>obviously<em>-but beside that nothing much happened. Rukia that day had decided to wear a short red Kimono with long sleeves and had her hair tied up in a messy bun, Toshiro on the other hand had decided to wear a blue Kimono (Matsumoto ran away with all of his other clothes which forced him into having no other choice _but_ wear that) that did not make him look like a sissy like many kimonos did on occasions.

"I promise you something bad is going to happen!" She growled. He gave her a blank look.

"What the hell could possibly happen that is so '_bad_'?" He retorted while air quoting around 'bad'. She clenched her fists.

"About everything! We could get struck by a very large icicle or…or we can get stampeded on by a bunch of Ice Wyverns or we could-HHM HRGG!" Toshiro clamped his hands over her mouth.

"You are just paranoid." She stated as if dealing with paranoid people was a daily thing. Hitsugaya cringed and removed his hand when he felt something wet slide across his hand. Rukia grinned boyishly when she saw his disgusted look.

"You are very revolting Kuchiki," He growled while wiping his hand off. She just smiled even bigger. Rolling his eyes, Toshiro reached for Hyorinmaru before jabbing it in the key hole and turning it. A large pulsing noise went off before the doors opened slowly. A buffet a stray snow blasted out from door and smacked Rukia in the face.

"Owie! See, I told you that was going to happen!" A faint smirk covered his face once Rukia began rubbing her forehead.

"You deserved it." She gaped at him but he ignored her and walked right into the doors. Once they walked in the large doors closed. Fuyu no Hikari was a very pretty place, it was always a starry night with many festivals and stores and such always going on. The floor was matted snow and there was many dark alleyways despite the plenty of lights everywhere. Rukia looked around in awe.

"Wow…It's so pretty here!" She exclaimed before Toshiro silenced her. She looked at in a confused manner. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"I don't even go to any Floating Lands in my Kingdom, and if I do-it's strictly business. If they see that their Lord had come to a Floating Land for what is _not_ business they will flock around us like birds….more like dumb pigeons. Anyways, and it makes it worse that almost everybody in my Kingdom already thinks I kidnapped you." He growled. Rukia glared at him.

"And what does that have to do with me?" He gave a her a blank look and smiled at her as if she were a mental kid.

"Nothing, Kuchiki, nothing," By the time they had walked out of the dark alleyway, it was a _disaster_. Swarms of sleazy paparazzi were _everywhere_ while snapping very blinding pictures and asking him so much damn questions he felt to freeze them all. Rukia on the other hand was enjoying the attention and instead of ignoring them was posing for them. Toshiro _really_wanted to wring her neck about now…Having no other choice, he grabbed the lightweight girl and put her on his back. She glared at him.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING! I was getting attention! Something you nor a lot of people give me!" She pouted not understanding what the people were taking 'attention' as.

"AWWWWW!" They cooed. COOED! This was time go.

"We're leaving," was all he said before he used his amazing shunpo to leave.

* * *

><p>A lot of people would be surprised how quickly news could spread, <em>especially<em> if instead of sending it out to all the other Kingdom's it sent _directly_ to the Flower Kingdom, and more_specifically_ straight to Lady Hisana. She flipped through all the pictures that she ended up getting within a few minutes of the actual occurrence. There was one with her daughter on that pervert's back, another one with her daughter posing and grinning while in the back ground Toshiro could be seen seething, and another one where the paparazzi had zoomed in where there hands met-or more specifically while he was yanking her away-and it was captioned-"I was getting attention! Something you don't give me Shiro!" Lady Hisana couldn't exactly tell if it were the true words Rukia had said-Rukia was independent girl-because when Byakuya and herself first began dating paparazzo's made up lies and warped it around to make it seem as if he two already had sex before getting married! Anyways, to make Hisana's day worse, while that damned Ice Dragon was giving _her_ daughter _piggy back ride_another _excellent _paparazzi managed to zoom in _EXACTLY_ where THE BASTARD HANDS WERE DIRECTLY ON HER **ASS**! She threw the photo's down on the floor and let a furious scream escape her lips. Tokuku and Voritorna came to Lady Hisana's aid.

"Yes Lady Hisana?" She asked while bowing. Hisana pointed down to the mess of flipped over photo's on the ground. The pink haired female picked it up and began looking through it while blushing more and sweat dropping more every single time she went to the next one. YuniYuki smiled sheepishly with a very large blush on her cheeks, she used to see Rukia everyday and seeing her act the way she was now wasn't exactly what she thought the sweet little 'Ruki' to be doing. Hisana's frown worsened.

'_ONCE I FIND YOU BYAKUYA YOU'RE DEAD!'_

* * *

><p>While shunpoing at a very blinding speed Toshiro was able to catch his one major flaw of having his hands on Rukia's <em>ass<em>. He blushed furiously before quickly removing them from that area.

'_Damn it! Those sleazy assholes probably have pictures of it!..Oh God. It's going to be all over the news paper which goes out to ALL of the Floating lands and Which Matsumoto always had the latest 'thing' going on sent straight out to her!'_ He wanted to slam his head against the nearest wall, but he left the suburban area long ago. He came a careful stop and let Kuchiki get down off of his back and on to the soft snow. Where they were had a perfect view of Fuyu no Hikari and all of the lights and festivals and wonders of the place. The very large crescent moon shone a pale light onto the pair and they were able to see a line of colorful lights streaming across the sky. Rukia gaped in amazement and quickly climbed a large and bare ice tree with a large branch that jutted out. It also had a perfect view of the lights that happened on rare occasions.

"Come here Lord Hitsugaya! It's really pretty!" She whisered while patting to a seat next to her. He huffed and turned his head in the opposite direction while crossing his arms. Rukia scowled.

"See you are _my_ sock monkey _there_fore you _must _OBEY!" She shouted. Seeing that the stubborn and too proud ice dragon wasn't going to join her by will he had to go by force. Rukia let the dragon transformation begin with a large light blue tail made entirely of snow and ice wrap around the branch. She then leaped off of it and grabbed Toshiro by the arm before slinging back to her seat on the branch with her 'sock monkey'. He glared daggers at her but she kept on going on about how clever her plan was. Toshiro had began to notice the snow falling from the sky and remember how cold they could be, and from what Rukia was wearing she was going to freeze to death. So therefore he too took on his dragon form and let his ice wings spread out so she wouldn't be affected by the painfully cold snow. Also upon seeing that he didn't have any other choice _but _to scoot closer to the ranting Kuchiki-His wings were not as long as the branch and he selectively choose a seat far away from her…What? Toshiro could be gentle if he wanted to!

"…And the snow falling also makes an awesome affect! But I'm very disappointed how there's no snow in Flower Kingdom…" She continued babbling on about the Flower Kingdom but he stopped listening.

'_Falling snow, huh? Wait…'_ A small and evil grin graced his features before he slowly uncoiled his large tail made entirely out of ice. He was careful to make no sound but at the rate of stupidity Rukia was going at he was sure she could get stabbed and not even notice. Anyways, he let his tail wrap slowly and carefully around her ankle and froze up when he noticed how warm she was. That and how being that close to her was kind of pleasing…He mentally shook his head.

'_Hormones…Damn them all!'_ After having a good portion of his tail wrapped securely around her ankle he yanked it down causing Rukia to slide off of her seat and hang upside down from under him. She looked angrily at him and folded her arms.

"You-you bastard!" She growled at him. Okay, Flaw number 2! Toshiro had completely forgot that her kimono was _short_ and he now had a perfect view of her panties! He again began to blush furiously and looked away. He did not need any weird perverted thoughts of Rukia's sexy panties in his head.

'_Wait…sexy…?…HYORINMARU!' _He hissed in his mind. Gods he wanted to kill that overgrown worm. He released her ankle and let the furious female fume.

"YOU EVIL BASTARD! How dare you! I was minding my own business and then you come along like some retarded idiot and…ooooh! Colored snow!" She said while looking down at the pile of 'colored snow'. Toshiro sweat dropped.

"uh…Kuchiki…that's not exactly what you think it should be…" He said while she continued making snow Chappy's out of the yellow snow. She paused and looked at him.

"Eh…? What do you mean?" She said. She then huffed at him and continued making her snow bunnies. "Your just jealous that you're too much of a grump to play with colored snow!" She growled not catching his drift at all. He sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Kuchiki, that's not 'colored snow," He said. She looked at him with a confused expression. "That's dragon pee." Her whole expression dropped.

"You're kidding me, right?" He shook his head and watched with some amusement as she instantly began rolling around in the snow.

"EWWWWWW!" He had a faint smirk on his face and instantly became very amused as she got up looking like a snow man.

"I HATE THIS PLACE!" She then began to pout. "That's why it never snows in the Flower Kingdom! Because there's too many weird dragons around that'll pee anywhere! CAN YOU PLEASE TAKE ME BACK TO YOUR CASTLE!" She begged. He nodded his head and leaped off of the branch while thinking of one thing.

'_Toshiro. Always. WINS.'_

Well actually there was another thought…or two.

'_Rukia's panties __**are**__ sexy…wait…HYORINMARU!'_

'_I had nothing to do with this! That was you!'_

* * *

><p>Hisana silently seethed. The last picture she got was by far the MOST PERVERTED picture she could think that damn bastard could do. There was her daughter, upside down with her panties most likely showing and that perverted bastard looking down at her grinning in triumph. Hisana couldn't exactly pinpoint why he grinning, I could've been because they were some game or he was just being a pervert. Either way-she didn't like it. She couldn't wait to give Byakuya some hell...And wait...? WAS THAT A TATTOO OF RUKIA'S NAME ON HIS LEG?<p>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: The relevant content's summary:**

**Kyrotsukio has a Zanpakuto, something that Byakuya, Renji or Ichigo expected.**

**The Storm Kingdom was destroyed by Aizen's men. **

**Tombi Gahato was found by the Death Lord, Shamashio Dei. He recreated her body and her Zanpakuto's. She explains some things about what will happen in the near future and past. **

**I think that's it...Well...**

**Join the HitsuRuki Army!**


	5. Frost Bites

**A/N: Ehem…err. Back from the dead. Updating is slowly beginning to rebuild itself but school is causing my schedule to go haywire. Don't expect to see updates next week. Gah! I swear school can mess up everyone's plans!**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

**-Getsumen **

**-Ketsueki Neko **

**Warning: OOC**

**Edited 8/26/12: Fixed some grammar**

* * *

><p><em><span>Sacrifice to the Dragon<span>_

_Chapter 5:_

_Frost Bites_

* * *

><p>'<em>No more,'<em> he hissed while rubbing his temples in fury. _'No more. I can't believe I took time out my life to acquaintance this bastard, and this is payback I get for it? Not again. She is no different from all of the others.'_ he reassured himself. He sighed and glared down at the Magazine that Matsumoto had always bought. Damn those paparazzi, and damn those lies! He threw the article away. He was done with playing around with that damn nuisance Kuchiki Rukia. She sacrificed herself, and he wasn't gonna' give a damn if she died from his bitterness. And he'll be damned if he gives her attention again! Because of her he's been lagging with his work and his Kingdom was slacking off a bit, which meant a lot since the last Lord had left the Kingdom in ruins! Hitsugaya nodded his head slowly. Talking with that raven haired girl would ruin him, and she meant _nothing_ to him, so thinking about her was to do him no good.

He looked down at the crate of his formal shihaukusho and hoari, he quickly grabbed his formal attire.

'_I was sick of those damn sissy kimonos.'_

* * *

><p>Rukia opened her eyes slowly, trying to adjust to strange light that shone around her. Her mind was all over the place, and the feeling of nausea didn't help the confusion. Neat black hair was disheveled, but she didn't care at the moment. Using her arms, she shakily pulled her body up into a sitting position. The ground beneath her was a burnt orange colored clay. It wasn't the type of ground type she saw often. She looked up. The sky was painted blue with fluffy white clouds, but on the other side was night. It looked as if could've been midnight on that side. She bit her lip and frowned.<p>

"This is odd..." She muttered quietly, taking more observations. The trees were the first thing she noticed. They were upside down. The roots of the trees were sticking out of the top, and the bushy leaves and branches at the bottom.

"Yes, this is an odd place indeed, Rukia." That voice, it was familiar. It was the voice of that one book that she had found in the corner of her room. She looked behind her, and out of the shadows from the night side came a man with wavy brown hair, brown eyes and pale skin. Black square-shaped glasses sat at the bridge of his nose, and he was dressed down in a Lord's robe. Though it seemed to blank with no Kingdom claim. Maybe it was a duplicate? Anyways, things were hard to process; a book is a book, not a human. Well, at least she assumed he's human.

Right?

Rukia looked at him and frowned.

"Who are you?" her voice came out strong; it showed little emotion, but spoke a command, not a question.

"Don't you recognize my voice? I am the soul who you freed from that book. Well, at least partially freed," he dipped his body in a small bow. "I am Sosuke Azien." He flashed her a soft smile. She looked at him with cold eyes. It seems the infamous Kuchiki mask was here again-oh well. She didn't know him.

"Why am I here? I know you bring me here to chat."

He chuckled. Her frown only deepened. Did she miss something, or is this guy just insane?

"Technically, you haven't moved a single inch, since you are sleeping of course." her breath hitched, but she forced herself to breathe normally. She didn't let down her façade and remained silent.

"You are in a state of mind, a dream is what some would describe it. Everything is real, but unreal. I am here in front of you, but not actually in front of you. I am only with you mentally. You spirit is not intact with your physical body, but is here. You do understand, don't you?"

A curt nod was his only answer.

"That doesn't answer my question, I asked why am I here, not where am I."

"Ah right," he said dismissively. "I have summoned you to do an errand for me." The Kuchiki mask frayed on the edges.

"What?" She asked very unsure if she heard correctly. She was called from her peaceful rest to an errand for him? Who the heck does he think he is commanding her—heiress of Lord Byakuya Kuchiki—to run an errand for him? Who was he anyways?

"I am not your errand girl, Azien." She hissed through clenched teeth. Whether she saved him or not, he had no right to tell her what to do. He wasn't her dad. He wasn't her mom. He wasn't anybody to her.

"I am aware of that," he paused. "Though I believe I need to rephrase that. It is more like I am doing you a favor. But I am trapped in this state, so I cannot leave."

She opened her mouth to say something. The bastard cut her off.

Figures.

"You do want to leave from here, don't you?" Azien said. From her sitting position, Rukia could see his eyebrows raise, almost as if he was unsure he said the right thing. Again, she said nothing. Her silence was his answer.

"I can get you out from here, but it takes a process. And there are things needed for you to leave."

"Why are you trying to help me?" she asked bitterly. She needed a reason to believe this guy.

"You freed me from eternal life trapped in an old, dingy book." he took a few steps towards her and squatted down so he was at eye-level. "Because of that, I am entitled to free you from being stuck with a cold, heartless dragon the rest of your life."

She felt as if there was more to what he let on, but she didn't press the matters. He was finally saying something she wanted to hear.

"And what about Orihime?" As if she would leave Orihime by herself. Not after years of knowing how soft and defenseless she was. Plus, in a way she did drag Orihime along with her. Rukia knew that Orihime would follow her anywhere, through times thick and thin. Now it was her job to get them out of there.

"You and your friend will be able to leave." he stuck his hand out. "Do you accept?"

Rukia took her time in her decision, weighing her consequences, pros and cons, and many other things. But when she glanced at his hand, she almost seemed reluctant to hold onto it. There was nothing wrong it, well at least physically, but gut-feelings were a bitch.

"I do." She grabbed his hand and a feeling of remorse washed over her.

* * *

><p><em>War cries in the atmosphere,<em>

_Screams of terror and agony,_

_Smoke and soot cover th-_

"Lady Ingu!"

The brush that was neatly writing on the fine piece of parchment jerked to the side causing a streak of black ink to cover the rest of her Haiku. She clenched the brush tightly.

"What is it that has caused you to disturb my studies?"

The golden colored gryphon bowed by sticking one paw out.

"I dearly apologize, Lady, but ye Heavens are being intruded!"

The glass full of ink spilled to the floor.

"_What_?_"_ she hissed.

"Yes, Lady. Lord Kimoyoku has already left in battle." Not daring to hear anymore, Ingu grabbed her Zanpakuto and headed off. The gryphon kept in pace with the fast-paced Lady.

"Where are they?" She commanded. The gryphon quickly responded.

"They're near Getsumen Sukai no Jiin (Temple of Lunar Skies)," She clenched her sword a little bit harder.

"Damn it!" Her strides quickened and in less than minutes she found herself leaving the doors of the large castle. Getsumen Sukia no Jiin was a large temple that held the peridot (The Kingdom's Gem) in a safe place. But by the sound of it, it wasn't so safe anymore. She transformed herself to a long sleek black dragon with yellow stripes that appeared every few inches apart. Green eyes looked around from high in the sky. A black mane was whipping by the force of the wind. Another explosion went off and an ear-rupturing wail filled the air. She peered down into the black smoke and dust. Down below she could see the temple. It was left in shambles. The stones were torn down and collapsed. The columns had toppled over and shattered, it was insane. But to make it even worse, blood was painted over the clouds of the Light Kingdom. Black blood mixed with red blood. And there was far more red blood than black.

And shockingly, the red was the blood of the Light Lord.

* * *

><p>Rukia woke up with a jolt. In her room, it was dark. The light of the large moon was the only thing that provided any illumination to the room. She looked outside of the large window. It was snowing outside. But with the clouds gathering quickly, it was going to be a blizzard.<p>

'_Why would he assign me tonight to retrieve it?'_ She hissed reminding herself of Azien. She looked beside her on the night stand. There was Sode no Shirayuki in all her glory. The pure white katana in its white obi with a white ribbon tied around. She grabbed and laid it beside her. Rukia opened the window and felt a blast of cold air. It was cold, be she could handle it. One foot after the other, she exited the open window. She quietly leaped down from one tear of the castle and onto the next, slipping and sliding a bit as she did so. Snow tumbled to the ground and some splashed onto the other tears. She lost footing on a couple tears, but caught herself before she could fall. Before she knew it, she was on the ice caked ground of the Ice Kingdom panting softly. She looked up to see the tall blue looming figures of the Doors Guards, Yashiroi and his other ice Wyvern comrade. Rukia was glad that he was asleep, by now he would've bombarded her with question and then sent her on her way back to her room with a little report to the first-in-command. Small footsteps seemed to not reach the ears of the guards as she snuck easily around. A few yards away from the castle, she still had to deal with more Kingdom protectors! For Christ's sake, it was a time past midnight! Three scaly ice serpents slithered past her as she had behind a thick ice tree.

"…Roku, Cho," One of the larger serpents said with a long, slick, black tongue slipping out of his mouth. The others turned their attention to him.

"Yes, Osoku?" The one she believed was Cho, hissed mockingly.

Osoku sniggered. "As I was saying, that Kuchiki girl…she does not belong here! The Lord does not want here, so I believe she should she be thrown in the snake pit and left to rot there like the many other victims." Cho, Roku, and Osoku laughed and left that way; laughing.

Sick bastards.

Rukia shakily stepped out of her hiding spot.

"I could've gone my _whole_ life without knowing that tad bit of information..." She muttered darkly while dusting snow off of her sleeves. She carried on her expedition without much more interruptions. There were a few more Ice Wyverns but they were too far away to see her past the snow that picked up pace with each step. Not to mention that the she was knee-high in snow. But she could cope with it. Though she knew not for long. She felt as if a soft ringing in her ears told her that her destination was near.

A stone temple came into view, past all of the thick, fast-falling snow. It reminded her of the many stone temples that scattered around the Flower Kingdom, but instead of beautiful flower petals falling to the ground, it was sharp, cold ice stinging at her face.

Oh, the _joy_.

She trudged along to the safety of the stone temple, which provided little protection, but was better than being out in the bitter snow. She lifted her knees to her chest and wondered what the hell she was thinking listening to Aizen.

_'I took the deal, and fucked myself up! Did I even bother to think this could be a big lie? Just a big giant trap so I can die and so Orihime can wither alone by herself?'_ Gods, she felt stupid. She thought she was playing the role of the heroine, the one to swoop along, save everyone and defeat the big dragon bastard, but she couldn't even make a right decision.

Stupid.

_Stupid._

_**Stupid.**_

She heard the voice in her head.

Aizen.

_'Rukia, the quicker you complete the mission, the quicker you'll leave.'_

The door opened with a loud bang. She whipped around to take a peek inside, the wind still howling loudly in her ears. She couldn't exactly see well, so she stepped inside. A dim light flashed on, over a figure made entirely of ice. It was a long frozen ice dragon. It looked like it was frozen in the midst of battle; its large mouth opened wide in a battle cry, slender ice wings were outstretched and red eyes blinded with fury. Its sharp tail was lifted, ready for striking its opponent.

It looked alive.

All too much alive.

And it made her legs wobbly.

Each spiny, prickly scale was poking out, and it was threaded with detail.

_'Go ahead, touch it.'_ She heard Azien say in her mind.

She cautiously stuck a pale hand out and touched one of the off place scales. A ripple of white waves was sent through the entire body. And then it moved. The battle cry she suggested the dragon was doing continued, it's loud, booming screech making her ears ring. It breathed out heavily through its nose, a white puff of snow and dust billowing out. Red eyes fixed itself on her small figure. Blue wings twitched. And then another battle cry went off. But this time it didn't look nearly as lost as it did the first time, it clarified her as his enemy. His opponent. One that was not of his side. An over-sized ice tail came swinging down at her, but she wasn't given much time to react because _someone else_ did it for her. She was carried over to the other side where she was safe from the large dragon. She was grateful for that. But she didn't fail to notice the irony smell that filled her nostrils in waves. Nor did she miss the dripping red blood quickly painting the floor.

Was she hurt?

No. She didn't feel any pain. And if she _was_ hurt, she was glad she couldn't feel anything.

And then she realized that someone _else _had gotten hurt while she was only thinking about herself when she wasn't harmed. She looked up. A tan face, distant cerulean eyes, spiky white hair, strong arms...

It was Lord Hitsugaya Toshiro.

Was _he_ hurt?

Yes, he was. She could tell from the blood that dripped from the dragon's tail. Speaking of the dragon, the said creature looked down at the both of them.

"I am Jinsokuna," He said. She felt the tightening in the first-in-command's arm muscles.

Why was Hitsugaya here?

Didn't he hate her?

* * *

><p><em>Earlier…<em>

Toshiro sat in the dark, letting the blackness swallow him up.

_"Hitsugaya-nushi (Nushi=Lord suffix), if you continue sitting in the dark like that you'll be emo in no time!"_ He remembered Rangiku saying this one time before when she caught him sulking in the dark. He didn't know what 'emo' was, and he really didn't care for it. Toshiro closed his eyes. He really couldn't tell if he was closing them or not since it was so damn dark in his office. He blinked, it was still dark, it didn't change. So he fell asleep. Not like he was the one to just pass the fuck out on people. He was tired and all the stress and complicated paperwork finally got to him.

He woke up seemingly a few minutes later. Though it wasn't a few minutes later, it was a couple of _hours_ later. 5 at the most. He rubbed the sleep from his eyes and got up with a stretch. His neck felt cramped from sleeping in an upright position.

'_Never again.'_ He thought while opening the door. He was quite surprised to see that it was late night, or very early in the morning. After all, he did stay up at an ungodly hour doing all of Matsumoto's piled up paperwork. He sighed and went to check up on Kuchiki. Before he had gone off to do work, he made sure Matsumoto had given her food before she went out and got drunk—like she always did. He knocked at her door.

"Kuchiki?" No answer. She had to be sleeping. He spread his senses and made sure that she was still there, knowing how sneaky and disobedient she could be. He didn't feel her reiatsu. Damn it. Completely irritatated, he forcefully opened the door. She was gone. The window was pried open with snow flying around in her room. His uneasiness caused a burst reitsu to flare wildly like a kindling fire.

'_Damn that woman! Now where the hell is she?'_

_Current time…_

Jinsokuna was a ruthless fighter; Hitsugaya-nushi had to admit that. His speed was undeniably fast (For his name 'Jinsokuna' did mean speedy) and he did have a lot of power and persistence, and aim was out of the question. The little limited space they had shared was annoying, but Toshiro was pretty sure the large temple would collapse in given time, not that he was rushing. Two giant claws made entirely of thick compacted ice came down on Hitsugaya, but the big space between claws was enough for him to squeeze into, though the sleeves of his shihaukusho were not salvaged from the damage. The two black sleeves fell to the ground, leaving his shoulders and arms bare. To the right of him, large tail swung with much speed. Luckily for him, the one who began this did try her best to end it as quickly as it started.

"Some no mai, tsukishiro!" A cylinder, which was also made of ice, blocked the tail of the dragon before it could touch him. The large spine tail reduced into snow and crumbled. But using the ice from Rukia's assault, he reformed his tail and was up and swinging again. The large tail slammed in between them. The two fighters used shunpo in opposite directions to avoid getting hurt.

"Damn it, Kuchiki! You're making this even worse, how about you just stay on the side lines and leave me the hell alone?" he spat, his nose scrunching and eyes narrowing in fury.

She sealed the reiatsu under her feet so she could stand in midair, hovering over the powerful lord.

"Well, I'm not just going to sit on the side lines and watch you get hurt!" she retorted, gripping her sword until her knuckles turned white. Why didn't he understand that she just wanted to _help_? What the hell was wrong with him? His stubbornness and refusal to let her help made her blood boil. Just from this little "show", she could tell he was used to handling things by himself. Maybe he was he liked doing things alone? Or did he not have choice in the first place?

Jinsokuna opened his mouth and out spewed dozens of crystalized arrows.

"Hadō #4, Byakurai!" A ray of concentrated lightning countered the arrows causing them to explode into snow and water.

"I was handling myself fine without you, _princess_!" he shouted, rage dripping in his voice. "Because of you, I have to go out and shed my blood for someone I _fucking **hate**_!"

Rukia disliked Hitsugaya-nushi—a lot, but she didn't _hate_ him. Well that's obviously how he felt. She was completely crestfallen; all she wanted to do was leave.

"Hadō #88, Hiryūgekizokushintenraihō!" It seems as if that was there same exact way for him too. Out from the palm of both hands came a burst of energy so strong it was suffocating. No _way_ could Jinsokuna survive. Though, neither could she.

"Bakudo #39, Enkōsen!" A shield of kido protected Rukia from the high amount of energy whirling everywhere.

'_Damn it…'_

* * *

><p>Fate had a weird way of working. One day, fate would be on your side, fulfilling every single wish had wanted, making you calm and filled with bliss, and then fate would turn its back on you, making your life a living hell. Fate loved with everything he hated. Just as he had said earlier, he would not keep up with Rukia's shenanigan; he promised that <em>no matter what Rukia shall not interrupt my day<em>.But where was Rukia right now? Passed out in the arms of the Ice-nushi. No matter _what_, the girl never seemed to be far from him. Never. He wished she would just leave him alone. He wished he knew if there was some magical ritual for an Un-sacrifice, because he _really_ needed one right about now. He wished that the girl in his arms would disappear _forever_.

He could wish as many times as he pleased, it just wasn't gonna' happen, _ever_.

He could feel built up hatred for the people of the Seireitei.

How _lustful_ did they believe he was?

He wasn't _seduced_ easily by women.

He didn't have the _temptations_ that they all believed he had.

Hitsugaya-nushi wasn't an asexual, nor a homosexual (No offense to those who are, I respect every kind of person). He just wasn't disgusting like the Seireitei's people made it seem. He didn't need women to calm his nerves; it just ruffled his feathers and caused him more anger. He sighed, no longer feeling much pain in his back where Jinsokuna had slashed him. Upon his arrival Yashiroi had opened the large doors, and from the silent manner that Toshiro had entered the castle, he could tell that he wasn't in the mood for much talking. It was maybe 2 minutes before he made it back to his room. He gently laid the Kuchiki heiress down onto his bed before calling Matsumoto through a spike of reitsu. The busty blonde was at his door in seconds. She looked at him with wide eyes. He looked like a mess with his formal attire ripped into shreds. She looked onto the bed and saw Kuchiki laying there unconscious.

"Yes, Hitsugaya-nushi?" His blue eyes looked tired.

"Go fetch Inoue," She left without asking any questions. She returned with the orange haired female. The first thing Orihime seemed to notice was the battered looking Kuchiki on his bed, then she saw the dark expression Hitsugaya's face, and it made everything worse because all of rumors she'd heard about the Ice Dragon being abusive and aggressive—but of course they were just rumors. Her jaw clenched together tightly. Her eyes were accusing.

"What did you do to her?" She hissed. He could tell that she was scared, her eyes showed it clearly, but yet she was confronting the Ice Lord as if he were a lowly peasant.

"I didn't do anything to her. This was all of her account." Her tiny fists tightened.

"Rukia would not hurt herself! Rukia—"

"Orihime…" The orange-haired female turned to the sound of the voice.

"Rukia…!" Rukia looked at her friend with weak eyes.

"It is not Hitsugaya-nushi's fault," She wheezed. "It's mine." She paused. "I left the castle in the middle of a blizzard and he saved me." Orihime's eyes widened. "But he's hurt, please heal him first,"

"Rukia! I will do no such thing! You are hurt and you need healing, he can wait!" Rukia while closing her eyes a bit seeing that she would have to resort to the bitch-card.

"Orihime, I, Rukia Kuchiki-hime of the Flower Kingdom, command you to _heal_ Hitsugaya-nushi first," Orihime bit her lip. She was screwed.

"But—"

"_Now_," It was a losing battle. Orihime walked over to Lord Hitsugaya.

"Where were you injured?" She said tentatively.

"My back," She saw the large tear is his shihaukusho and the blood caking on it. She frowned, puzzled.

"Rukia, did you already try to heal him?" There was a small moment of silence.

"What?"

"Hitsugaya-nushi has no wound but a small faded scar!" Rukia struggled to sit up, but managed anyways.

"Impossible! I didn't heal him! I know he was hurt! Jinsokuna had his blood all over his tail!" Orihime's lips tightened into a thin line.

"Well, if he's not hurt, I'll heal you instead," She said hastily.

"On my bed?" Hitsugaya whined. He just wanted to bathe go to sleep, so he sat down on a chair in his room. Rukia, Orihime and Matsumoto looked at him with a funny, comical expression. He tilted his head.

"_What_?" Orihime glared down hard at him.

"You are not allowed to see the princess when she is bare you hentai! Shoo!" The orange-head shoved the shocked leader out of his large, double-door room and out into the hallway with Matsumoto.

"Did she just call me a _pervert_?" He asked while shaking off the shock.

"Yeah, I believe she did," She grinned and patted her nushi on his back. "It's alright, you can use my shower. I'll fetch your clothing when you're done," Hitsugaya sighed. The Seireitei had sent him an odd pair of females.

* * *

><p>Ikakku lay down low, making sure his bald head did not poke out from behind the immense amount rubble and giant Storm Kingdom statues that were broken down and destroyed in the process of claim.<p>

'_Claimed by the Balance Kingdom my ass!'_ He thought bitterly as he looked at the Balance Kingdom banner that were being put up everywhere in the Storm Kingdom. Yumichika was beside him, he wasn't handling nearly as well as Ikakku. Yumichika refused to believe that the Storm Kingdom was destroyed, not after decades of being one of the top strongest Kingdoms, right behind the Ice Kingdom-which held place as #1.

They ducked a little further behind the large knocked-down statue of a Storm Wolf, peeking through the cracks to see who were there. It was a group of slithery dragons. And by the amount of reitsu, they were all Lord leveled.

"I wanna' here a status check," Said the copper-colored one. A silver one nodded, a little too happily if you asked Ikakku.

"Well, if that's watcha' want," He thought for a second. "We have already claimed the Fire Kingdom, The Storm Kingdom and newly made, the Light Kingdom, we're sending off some dragons to knock down the Light Kingdoms claims and government system as we speak." The copper one grunted.

"Is Nova (Shinsei) leading this group?" He asked bitterly.

"Yep,"

"Do we have the peridot?"

"Yep, it's in the possession of Azien-nushi,"

"Very well," The copper one left the group and headed skyward.

"Where ya' goin'?" The silver one chimed from the ground.

"I still see some Storm Statues that haven't been knocked down, yet. It is no claim with evidence of the last Kingdom everywhere," He growled.

_What?_

Did those dragons just say that even the _Light_ Kingdom was claimed? How was that possible? There are _two_ Lord-leveled dragons in first command, how the hell did anyone make it past that?

_Azien-nushi…_

And Azien's back? For the sake of Shai-nushi! Hitsugaya-nushi had _killed_ Azien!

Right?

But that's impossible if he was alive and snatching the claim of Kingdoms from right under the Lords' feet! And Iyashi-nushi had died fighting Aizen, and know where did all that hard-work go to? The trash?

"This is not good," Yumichika muttered. "This is really not good."

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya walked down the empty, cold halls of his castle, until he reached his room. He was just going to open the door until he remembered Orihime's lecture that he received a few hours ago. He knocked.<p>

"Kuchiki, are you in there?"

"Yes," He heard her call from behind the door.

"Are you dressed?"

"Yes," He was about to open the door, but he then remembered he forgot to obtain some vital information.

"…Is Inoue in there?"

"No,"

'_It's safe,'_ He thought while opening the door. Kuchiki sat upright in his bed, her black hair messy and multiple bags under her eyes. Her skin was sickly pale, but he could tell she was getting better. She looked towards him and caught eye contact—maybe for a split second, not _even_—before looking away with a grim face. This action clearly spoke _I do not forgive you for destroying my pride_. He sat down in his chair, but this time the air was much thicker with tension. It held an uncomfortable silence, nothing else being heard beside the rhythmic breathing pattern of both ice wielders.

'_**Say something,'**_ He heard Hyrorinmaru urge. Hitsugaya was quite surprised; it wasn't often that the mighty Zanpakuto spoke. The silence stretched on. Neither person said anything. She did not look at him. She didn't even bother. His sharp fingernails found the edge of his seat and began to claw endlessly into the fine wood. He hoped this would relieve a tad bit of stress. It did nothing. Seconds seemed to be hours, minutes stretched into lifetimes. The silence was so deafening that it drove Hitsugaya mad. It was as if he could hear everything she was thinking.

_You ruined me._

_You hate me._

_You think I'm weak._

_You think I'm useless._

_I know I am._

_And it hurts._

_You didn't have to say it._

_I already know._

_I've been called weak before._

_But why does it hurt so much?_

_Are you pleased, Hitsugaya-nushi?_

_Are you pleased that you have broken me?_

_Is that enough for you?_

_Is it?_

"Enough!" His head hurt. He didn't want to hear these things. They wouldn't silence themselves. They danced and echoed and ricocheted off of every corner of his mind. What were they? Were they her thoughts? Rukia whipped her head towards the panting Lord. What was wrong with him?

"Hitsugaya-nushi, Hitsugaya-nushi!" He gripped onto the edge of the chair so tightly he felt them splinter in his palms.

_Is it wrong that I have feelings?_

"No!" Rukia's eyes were filled with puzzlement as she hobbled out of the bed and by his side.

"Hitsugaya-nushi!"

_Then why do you hate me?_

_Why do you __**hate**__ me?_

His hand reached them arms of Kuchiki's and in one forceful pull, she was down at her knees.

"I do not hate you! Damn it, I'm sorry that I've broken you! Just make the voices stop, Kuchiki!"

_Are you __**guilty**__, Hitsugaya?_

_Are you guilty of harming me?_

_Are you guilty of hurting me?_

_**Are you**__?_

"I'm guilty! I will never hurt you again!" His voice became a low, hoarse whisper. "I swear," She looked up into his eyes for the first time since earlier. Big, beautiful, violet eyes clouded with sadness. A feeling he's never seen within purple orbs

"_How do I know you're not lying_?" He heard both Kuchiki's and the other beings voice at one time.

_Prove it._

_And when you do prove it._

_I will leave._

"Tell me want you want from me," He croaked, desperate not to hear the voice ever again. She opened her mouth to speak.

"I want you to train me, Hitsugaya," She said, dropping the Lord suffix. "I want you to train me so that I am not weak, anymore," The voice faded away, leaving Hitsugaya's mind alone.

"If you wish so, Kuchiki, then it is,"

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I bet you guys are all like "Da fuck?" or "What in the fuck?". *shrugs* It was very OOC at the end, but I'm fine with that. The crazy little voice that you guys were reading was a mix between Hitsugaya's conscious and Rukia's. Yes, yes. This may seem very strange and just "Da fuck?" or "What in the fuck?" but this will all make sense in later chapters.**

**Here's a sneak peek for taking so long. Very short. Enjoy~**

***Sneak Peek***

Rukia's muscles ached horribly. Sparring with the nushi was much _worse_ than she thought—not that she ever thought it would be easy—! She landed flat on her butt after a well-aimed blow from the white haired superior. He scowled at her.

"You were supposed to block that."

"No shit!" She hissed while trying to get up. The two white suns slowly slid over the horizon, brightening the star kissed sky. The two were outside in Hitsugaya's personal training grounds. It was early in the morning, not even Yashiroi was awake. Rukia went into battle stance and prepared to start again. Same with Hitsugaya-nushi.

"Charge again, Kuchiki, but this time I want you to _try_ and block this one!"

"Shut the hell up!" She growled while coming at him with top speed. Like a flash of lightning he attacked again, and he found herself on her butt, sliding across the frozen training ground.

"I thought I told you to block." He called from his spot across the ice.

"Go to hell!"

***Sneak Peek Finished***

**Join the HitsuRuki Army!**


	6. In Which the Dragon is a Coward

**A/N: I meant to update way faster…but hey, the thought is what counts, right? Right? RIGHT? *runs away from several, sharp, pointy knives***

* * *

><p><em><span>Sacrifice to the Dragon<span>_

_Chapter 6:_

_In Which the Dragon is a Coward_

* * *

><p>Rukia's muscles ached horribly. Sparring with the nushi was much worse than she thought—not that she ever thought it would be easy. She landed flat on her butt after a well-aimed blow from the white haired superior. He scowled at her.<p>

"You were supposed to block that."

"No shit!" she hissed while trying to get up. The two white suns slowly slid over the horizon, brightening the star kissed sky. The two were outside in Hitsugaya's personal training grounds. It was early in the morning, not even Yashiroi was awake. Rukia went into battle stance and prepared to start again. Same with Hitsugaya-nushi.

"Charge again, Kuchiki, but this time I want you to try and block this one!"

"Shut the hell up!" she growled while coming at him at top speed. Like a flash of lightning he attacked again, and she—yet again— found herself on her butt, sliding across the frozen training ground.

"I thought I told you to block!" he called from his spot across the ice.

"Go to hell!" Rukia got up from the ground once more, slipping a bit as she did so.

_'Damn it,'_ she thought_. 'I can make Renji struggle when he's fighting me, but I can't even make this bastard drop a sweat!'_ She dusted the ice off of her.

"I will try a different approach." he said seeing that trying to make her block his attacks wasn't going to get them anywhere. Rukia raised an eyebrow.

"And what would that be?"

"How about you try and hit me, at least once." he said, acting as if that were just the easiest thing in the world.

"Fine, but I make no promises that I can even hit you once!" she grumbled while picking up her sword from the ground. She held her word erect and went into battle stance more. In an instant, Toshiro appeared before her using shunpo at a speed that was unknown to her; Rukia hadn't even seen him move. But luckily she was able to spot him before he could move from her range. She swung it at him.

"Haha! I've caught you—…your hoari?" she said quizzically, looking down at the white, nushi's hoari. The piece of clothing was draped around her blade with a large tear in it.

_'Damn it, I fell for an illusion! Now where is he?'_ Rukia sighed disappointingly and looked behind her just in time to see the long, sleek, silver blade being lifted and lightly held in between the center of her eyes.

"And who exactly have you caught?" Toshiro chimed slyly while dropping the blade to his side. She looked at him through wide eyes.

"But—you were just—but I swore I—agh!" The white haired first-in-command slightly tilted his head to the side.

"You rejoiced too quickly after you fell for my diversion, Kuchiki. If I were truly your enemy, I would not have hesitated to drive my blade through you." Rukia's eye twitched.

_'How about I just drive my blade through you like a damn shish-kabob!'_ she thought darkly. He rolled his eyes at her.

"C'mon, let's go back inside before the sun rises, Yashiroi usually crosses the training grounds around this time, the ice can only handle so much weight," Rukia nodded obediently before offering back his hoari. He shook his head.

"Aren't you going to take it?" she asked.

"You tore it with your blade, what good is it now?" He said blandly while looking away. She was quite surprised she found no trace of anger or mock in his voice. He could've made fun of her for asking such a stupid question when she did tear it. After all, he is known for being temperamental.

"Ah, right," she responded dumbly after some time. A calming silence washed over the two as the suns rose over the tree littered horizon; the only noise heard was the crunching of the snow under their feet. The crunching turned into footsteps as they began taking the cobblestone pathway back to the icy castle. Three slithery ice serpents slithered slyly (Tongue twister!) past by them, nodding to their nushi, but looking mysteriously at Rukia. As if she didn't catch the odd glances…

_'Cho, Osoku and Roku,'_ she reminisced bitterly. But she paid them no mind as they walked further away from each other. After all, it has been months since she's last snuck out of the castle, and months since she's seen Aizen. They soon approached the large looming door that stood seemingly hundreds of feet above them. Yashiroi and his workmate were already there, and at the curt nod from Toshiro, the doors opened for them.

* * *

><p>Byakuya's patience was gone days ago. With information from some books about the Kuzuryū (Nine Headed Dragon, the 9 Kingdoms) he was able to get a time difference between the Seireitei and the Ice Kingdom.<p>

Two minutes in the Seireitei was two hours in the Ice Kingdom.

Two weeks in the Seireitei equaled a possibility of 183 days in the Ice Kingdom.

But that book was written very long ago, not every fact was right. Maybe some information was over exaggerated; maybe the laws of the Ice Kingdom's "two suns equal shorter days" have changed. Maybe was still a maybe.

Maybe it didn't.

Maybe it did.

Byakuya was only glad that he's only been in the Seireitei for 4 days, though it was still plenty of weeks in the Ice Kingdom.

Plenty of time for Rukia to be harmed, if not by the Ice Dragon himself, then others.

"Kuchiki-nushi," A small voice was heard from behind him.

"Yes, Kyoku (Kyro's last name)?"

"I apologize if I may sound paranoid," She said from her seat on Renji's back. Kyro brushed a lock of pink hair out of her babyish face. "But I believe the inconvenience of you not accessing your Kingdom is not a mere incident, but purposely caused," Renji and Byakuya took a moment to process what she had said. Ichigo looked a bit distant, but they believed that was his "Trying-to-comprehend" face. Byakuya thought about it.

"It is very possible, but highly unlikely," Kyro's lips went flat. She knew too many things that they didn't, she knew too many things that would ruin her second chance, but hopefully, her warnings would not go unnoticed.

"I am aware of that Kuchiki-nushi, but please do take what I'm saying into more consideration. No Kingdom's doors have ever denied access to the Kingdom's people, and especially not to the Lord and/or Lady of that Kingdom. There is no reason that your Kingdom should lock on you unless your Kingdom's people locked it. But even so, you being the Lord, should still have access. I doubt that Lady Kuchiki or second-in-command YuniYuki, or Senbonzakura would lock the Kingdom's doors on you. Kuchiki-nushi, this is no accident, this is purposely done." Byakuya followed clearly. The more and more she spoke what she was saying was sounding more and more convincing.

"And who would do such?" He asked. But he believed he knew the answer already.

"Could it be…?" Ichigo said hoarsely. Kyro lowered her eyes.

"Yes, this is the work of none other but Aizen. The only one who has ability to lock the Kingdom's doors to even the Lords."

* * *

><p>Eavesdropping.<p>

It was something Hitsugaya-nushi never did.

But today was an exception.

Why?

Because it wasn't like she, Rukia, were actually talking to someone. And it's not as if he meant to, it just kind of came to him. He was doing what usually did around afternoon. Hitsugaya was going to just return to his office, scream at Matsumoto to do her work, and then go on about his business. But no, instead he got caught up in this "Kuchiki mess" once again. The situation with Kuchiki Rukia was much like a quicksand. The more you struggled to get out of it, the deeper you find yourself sinking, and the deeper you sank, the more you struggled. Hitsugaya looked around, seeing if any passing by maids or serpents seemed to notice the strange thing. If they did, they sure didn't show it, for they walked on, leaving the blue halls barren once again. His eyebrows knitted together. This was confusing him, it felt as if his mind was being drawn to a different place, and yet fighting back seemed futile. In fact, it seemed to be coaxing him into it. Perhaps this was a close-range ability Kuchiki had? After all, he was standing near her room door…Images began to slip into his mind, like he had opened his mind for everyone's two cents. But they weren't images; they were memories. Memories that Toshiro had no memory of. Memories that he had no _part_ of.

_"Rukia! Rukia!" At just the very sound of his voice, Rukia's expression quickly sickened._

_"Yes, Kurosaki?" She hissed through gritted teeth. The orange haired male, Ichigo Kurosaki, believe it or not, was a very close friend of Rukia's. A very close friend indeed. But no matter how close they may be, Rukia had to lay down the rules. Especially when Lord Byakuya Kuchiki, Prince Kaien Shiba, and his father were all in the same room discussing important, noble, family business. A thing that Ichigo would never learn to respect. The red headed boy took several moments to realize the predicament he was in._

_"Shit…" He swore, only making things worse. Rukia quickly stood up from her seat across the table from Kaien Shiba._

_"Excuse me for a second Father and sir Shiba," She did a tiny and quick bow before manhandling Ichigo's collar until they stood outside the doors of the large meeting room._

_"What the hell was that?" Rukia hissed and whispered at the same time. Ichigo scratched his head._

_"I had no idea you were discussing some prissy family business!" He retorted loudly. Rukia responded to that with stomping down hard on his feet._

_"Ichigo, this is not one of the times that I will allow you to try and severe the ties with certain nobles," She looked at Ichigo dead in the eyes. "I love him."_

_There was a silence that lasted several heartbeats._

_"What? Rukia, there is no way you can be at least HALF this guy's age! Let's say if he already has a wife and children, or something like that."_

_"His background was already checked—"_

_"By Renji." Rukia swallowed hard. Everyone in the Kingdom knew that Renji couldn't a job done for shit, unless it was something like execution or battle training and whatnot._

_"Look, whatever Ichigo. I trust him, and I'm going to marry him no matter what you say." She turned on heels, heading back towards the meeting room to only be stopped by Ichigo once again and being pulled in a warm embrace._

_"Just know what you're doing, because you do some really stupid things at times." Rukia nodded before pulling herself free._

_"I'm a smart girl, Ichigo. I know what I'm doing."_

_oOo_

_"Kuchiki-hime. It is time to go." The black haired female nodded to the stoic, no-tolerance, constable. They were outside of the castle, waiting for what seemed like forever and day, for Orihime to hurry and make it in time so they could both leave to the Seireitei. Noble family business with her father. Yes, the Lord of the Flower Kingdom was still in the process of approval with her marrying Kaien Shiba._

_"I know that. Just wait a few more moments for Inoue to come out." She said while staring at the castle doors. A few seconds later, Orihime ran out the large double doors, carrying many bags the size of boulders._

_"Ah, there she is." He muttered, relieved that he would have to wait no longer. If he were any later, Lord Kuchiki would have his head. The constable loaded their things into the carriage and hooked the reins around his waist. Rukia lifted an eyebrow in confusion._

_"Pardon me, sir. But weren't we supposed to travel by horse?" The constable didn't even turn around._

_"I would, but the horses would be too slow. We are very late, and we need to get to the Seireitei quickly. We will travel by air." The constable changed into a long, sleek, black dragon and began to take flight. Luckily, he was the type of dragons who didn't needs wings to fly, so their ride wasn't as wild as she expected it would be. After approximately 20 minutes, they found themselves at the large door that led into other Kingdoms. The constable quickly selected the one that led to the Seireitei, and unlocked the door. Many pedestrians below looked up in awe at the sight of a Flower Kingdom dragon soaring across, the sky with the heiress in the carriage. Rukia tapped her fingers on her lap. Orihime bit her fingernails._

_"Alright. We are here. Lord Kuchiki-sama wanted me to drop the both of you off at this destination. Please do not leave this area. Kuchiki-nushi will be joining you shortly once I get into contact with him." The constable changed back into a human shape and began leaving. He stopped for a second. "If Korusaki-san gets here first, leave with him." And he was gone._

_"Hello, Kuchiki-hime-sama!" Said a young lady from beside her. The lady had short blond hair and blue eyes._

_"Welcome back to the Seireitei. It is nice to have a noble around every so often." Rukia gave the lady a curt nod._

_"Thank you for the welcome." The blonde lady walked away, into the building that was behind them. Rukia looked around her surroundings. Lush green grass, hardly any stores, and the place was pretty isolated and quiet. It pretty much seemed like a place Byakuya would send her. She wouldn't be surprised if he had his men hidden everywhere in this area to protect her from any danger. The blonde lady walked out again._

_"Say, Kuchiki-hime-sama, do you know what today is?" She said while her smile dropped a bit. Rukia sighed and scratched her head. "I'm sorry, but no. The time in the Flower Kingdom is different from the Seireitei. I didn't get a chance to check the date when I got here." The blonde lady shook her head._

_"I know what today is. I was wondering if you knew. Today is the last day of the year." Rukia's eyes widened._

_"That means…"_

_"Yes." The blonde lady said while sighing. "Today is the day when a poor, young girl gets thrown into the Dragon's Den." Orihime's eyes began to tear up._

_"Rukia-san, do you think you can do something about this?" She muttered while squeezing her tiny fists. Rukia closed her eyes._

_"I honestly have no idea. Maybe Yamamoto-san can do something about it, but it would be too long before we reach him, and by then, whatever girl would've already been thrown into the Ice Kingdom." The blonde lady looked thoughtful._

_"Kuchiki-hime-sama, maybe you can do something about it. Maybe you can stop a poor girl from being sacrificed, at least this year! I mean, you're an Ojo (princess)—"_

_"My point exactly. I'm _just_ an Ojo. But it doesn't mean I won't try!" Determination shone brightly in her eyes. "I will find a way to stop some poor innocent girl from getting sacrificed this year!" Her fists clenched. "Even if it means sacrificing myself! I promise!" Orihime nodded, agreeing with Rukia._

_"Well, you only have a half an hour to get there! Hurry!" Orihime and Rukia sped off, leaving the blonde lady to do her farewells._

_Rukia watched as the lush, green grass faded and old, rocks and gravel came in its place. They saw many villagers surrounding the large silver and blue kingdom door. The silver from the door shone brightly, Orihime shielded her eyes._

'We're nearing the Sacrifice Grounds.' _She thought. Rukia made her way to the front of the crowd, bumping into people while Orihime stayed behind to apologize. There was thick tension in the air, so thick that Rukia could probably cut it with a blade. Some people 'ooh'ed and 'ahh'ed at Rukia's presence. Those who were respectful, or fearful, bowed to her, though it received little acknowledge._

_"I wonder who will be going this year…" Inoue whispered, sorrow laced in each word. Rukia squeezed her friend's shoulder softly. A plump, black haired man bean to speak._

_"It has come to the end of the year," He said, his voice booming through the small village. The people quieted, others left and some moved to the back of the crowd. Rukia's jaw clenched together. "The Sacrifice is needed from a brave woman to save our village from the Dragon's wrath," The silence grew. The man briefly laid his eyes upon Rukia, but quickly looked away. He pointed rudely to a mall girl in the crowd._

_"You! You will sacrifice yourself to the dragon!" _

_The older woman, perhaps her mother, shook her head and tried to plea with the merciless people. Orihime began the cry once again. _

'Kuchiki-hime-sama, maybe you can do something about it. Maybe you can stop a poor girl from being sacrificed, at least this year!' _Rukia remembered the lady's words. She had promised her that she would stop this disaster—_

_"Do not take her!" _

—_even if it meant sacrificing herself. _

_Many gasps were heard._

_"I'm so sorry Princess Kuchiki-sama, but I cannot do such, a sacrifice is needed and—"_

_"Take me then, I will be much more suited for a position than her." The girl was released. She rushed back to her mom, who gave a small thanks, and hurried away. _

_"I apologize Kuchiki-hime-sama but I cannot fulfill that request! Lord Kuchiki would not be pleased with this—" The plump man was interrupted once more. _

_"I am very aware of my situation, but you seem not to know yours," He raised an eyebrow. "I am a Princess, therefore holding a higher status and ranking than yours, I know very well of my Father and what he will do, but I refuse to watch this any longer." She said with a strong voice. The man sighed._

_"Very well…Let the SACRIFICE CONTINUE!"_

Hitsugaya felt as if he were being thrown violently out of the strange images. He breathed heavily, eyes wide and face unbelievably pale, before taking a wobbly step back.

'_Kuchiki…' _Was that her memories? Or was that just a sick image that his mind had made up? Why was he just seeing this now, as for Kuchiki has been here for a while? If what he saw was true, _'Then Kuchiki is much different from what I have seen.' _She was filled with care, compassion, a heart that was filled with warmth and many other things he lacked. But that was then, now is now. Her heart was probably swelled with longing, misery, and heart ache. A feeling came over him. It made his senses tingle. It made his stomach drop.

'_She's crying.' _He thought shockingly. The Kuchiki he had seen in the images was brave and strong, but yet she is crying now? Goosebumps covered his skin. Guilt washed over what was left of the ice cube that was called a "heart".

_Comfort her._

He surprisingly was urged to do so. She was alone at the moment, nobody to help her through, and yet he was hidden behind the door, frozen in his spot, his mind heavily conflicted.

'_I can't.' _He responded absently.

_Why not?_

His fists clenched.

'_Because I am coward. A fucking coward.' _The same dragon that battled and defeated Aizen was afraid to comfort a single girl? The same dragon who led not only his Kingdom, but other Kingdoms through hardships was afraid to _open the fucking door and ask her what's wrong_? It was ludicrous. Such a simple act and yet he did not even have the balls to do it. He took a step away from the door. The step was followed by another. And then another, until he found himself running, top speed out of the castle. What the hell was wrong with him? The Kingdom's temperature began to drop quickly; icy winds began to start up. Why was he so bothered by this? Caring about something so…_trivial _was very unlikely of him.

_You ran away. You are truly a coward._

His vision blurred. Why was he so troubled about this girl? What was it that made him feel like this?

_You do not know how to feel._

'_I…do not know…how to feel?' _Was this voice right? Did he _not_ know how to feel? Did he not know how to cope with his emotions any other way besides bottling them up, waiting until they just burst out?

_You are a cowardly fool, Hitsugaya. You have not felt anything else but anger for so many years that you do not know how to react to anything in any other way than how you would react to anger. You can't even tell the difference between your feelings. A damn fool I tell you._

His heart thud in his chest. He began to feel unnaturally dizzy. The world around him seemed to swirl and sway until everything just became black.

* * *

><p>'<em>Faster, faster!' <em> Shai-nushi pumped her legs harder, moving faster than she ever has before. Hisagi struggled to keep up with her, and Ukito Kiro was only steps behind her master.

"Where are we heading?" Hisagi managed to say between pants. Hsariku never broke stride.

"The backup castle." She yelled. "We should be able to get in communication with the other Kingdoms from there! Every Kingdom has them, we can use this to check if they've been attacked and overrun by Aizen's people." She took a big leap and landed on top of a large, broken down sculpture of a lightning zap. She jumped again, and with the help of shunpo, landed many yards away. Hisagi was going to pass out. How could Hsariku-nushi run so damn fast?

* * *

><p>"—aya-nushi! Hitugaya-nushi!" He barely came to consciousness, but the feeling of small, cold hands brought him to his senses. His vision was blurred, but after a few blinks, he was able to see clearly. It was dark outside. Stars speckled the sky and a few stray clouds covered the moon. He was lying down in snow on his back. Most of his body was numb from the cold, and with the little feeling he had left. He could tell someone was touching him.<p>

"Hitsugaya-nushi! Are you okay?" The voice was painstakingly familiar. He looked up to only catch eye contact with the only person who he knew had violet eyes.

"Kuchiki…?" He asked hoarsely. He throat was unbelievably dry. Kuchiki closed her eyes and nodded. He looked around to notice that Kuchiki was not the only person out there. There was also Matsumoto and Inoue. And the both of them held a worried expression.

"What were you doing out here, Hitsugaya?" Matsumoto inquired. She frowned. Hitsugaya slowly lifted his body up so that he could sit.

"It doesn't concern you, Matsumoto. Anyways, how did you guys even know I was here?" He was very confused. He left without anyone knowing, and he was pretty sure no one saw him leave. Not even Yashiroi. Orihime answered.

"Rukia-hime knew that you were here." His eyes widened considerably.

"What?"

Matsumoto nodded.

"Kuchiki was running all throughout the castle, looking for you. I asked her what was wrong, and she just said she knew you were in danger somehow. Weird, isn't it?" He nodded absent mindedly. Matsumoto threw him a large, beige blanket. "You may be the Lord of Ice, but I know you still get cold." She said humorously. Hitsugaya noted that Kuchiki didn't say anything.

"C'mon, we need to get going. Night in the Ice Kingdom is everything but merciful." She said while warming her shoulders. Hitsugaya nodded before bringing himself to his feet. Matsumoto began walking towards the large ice castle with Orihime just a few feet behind. Rukia began to follow silently before Hitsugaya grabbed her wrist and spun her around. Bright purple eyes opened wide, her face completely flustered by the quick action.

"Kuchiki," A small silence came between the two. "Did you really tell I was out here?" She looked down at her feet, as if they were the most entertaining things in the world. A sharp breeze swept by, ruffling his shihaukusho, causing it to flap in the wind.

"Yeah…"

His eyes softened.

"Thank you." She looked back up, shock taking over her face once more. His facial expression wasn't mocking or anything. It was just genuine, and if you looked hard enough, you could see a faint smile.

"Y-you're welcome." She sputtered. That was the last thing she ever expected him to say. Seeing how far the other two were, the both of them began to walk quickly, trying to catch up with Matsumoto and Inoue.

He never let go of her wrist.

* * *

><p>Matsumoto, who was a distance away from the other too smiled warmly.<p>

"I told you there was something different about him!" She chimed happily. Orihime nodded.

"I didn't know they were that close. I mean, Hitsugaya-nushi hardly shows any expressions." Orihime fiddled with the scarf around her neck. "But then again, Rukia is amazing. She can make the rain stop for anyone."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: I'm DONE! Yes! 11:16 PM and I've never been more proud of myself! :DDDDDD I know, the end was fluffy~ All thankies to Carmen~ Oh and thanks Deni-san (Denidene) for updating your story~ :DDDD it made my day~ Anyways, I hope end was fluffy enough you guys. Cause I want you guys to eat the fluff and shove it down your throat, there won't be nearly a much the next chapter~ Drop a review and…**

**Join the HitsuRuki Army!**


	7. Reap the Life

**A/N: Updating, oh updating~ such a beauty you are~ Also, just in case you guys didn't know, only chapters 1, 2, some of 4, 5 and 6 are truly important to the story. 3 was fun to write and same as 4.**

**Also, I've found out the suffix for second-in-command, its fukushō.**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

* * *

><p><em><span>Sacrifice to the Dragon<span>_

_Chapter 7:_

_Reap the Life_

* * *

><p>Training with Hitsugaya-nushi was difficult, as always, but this time she felt something was different.<p>

Was it the way he trained with her?

No, Hitsugaya was as merciless as usual. The intense, yet helpful, training did not change. She was still sliding across the ice on her behind, just as she did the day before.

Was it her?

Couldn't be, Rukia felt the same as she always did; sore and numb. She didn't have a dramatic change in power, so there was no way it was her. Her personality was the same; well at least she believed it was.

Something was off. She could tell, but she just didn't know what…

"Come on, time to go." Hitsugaya said, watching briefly as Yashiroi neared his icy training grounds. Rukia had woken up late for her training and surprisingly, he wasn't nearly as pissed as she thought he would be. He scowled at her, held the look a for a little bit, but then got over it quickly—without a lecture or any discipline—and told her to just try harder to wake up earlier next time. Was that strange or what?

"Hai." she muttered, following out him of his training grounds. Rukia fiddled with the edge of her training yukata. Why was she focusing so hard on trying to figure him out?

'_Maybe because his sudden change of personality.' _she thought, trying to reason with herself. There _must _be a reason why Hitsugaya was acting so strangely. She remembered the night before.

_Rukia began to follow Orihime and Rangiku silently before Hitsugaya grabbed her wrist and spun her around. Her bright purple eyes opened wide, her face completely flustered by the quick action._

_"Kuchiki," A small silence came between the two. "Did you really tell I was out here?" She looked down at her feet, as if they were the most entertaining things in the world. A sharp breeze swept by, ruffling his shihaukusho, causing it to flap in the wind._

_"Yeah…"_

_His eyes softened._

_"Thank you." She looked back up, shock taking over her face once more. His facial expression wasn't mocking or anything. It was just genuine, and if you looked hard enough, you could see a faint smile._

_"Y-you're welcome." _

Rukia shook her head. Last night was just completely strange, filled with many confusing thoughts and feelings that she really didn't want to bring up again. She was already having a hard time trying to decide what he wanted to do with herself.

'_Stay here in the Ice Kingdom forever or try to find a way back to the Flower Kingdom.' _The decision was all on her. She couldn't ask Orihime for help, she would probably turn to Rukia herself and then Rukia would find out that she had wasted moments of her life for no good reason. Anyways, Rukia's head pounded. She had to decide sooner or later. If she stayed in the Ice Kingdom she would have to deal with all these confusing feelings and thoughts until she had them sorted out. But back at the Flower Kingdom…she'd be back with Byakuya, Hisana, Renji and—

'_Ichigo.' _

But how would they react upon her arrival? Would they be angry? Would they be glad? Would they come after Hitsugaya-nushi? And if they came after Hitsugaya-nushi would she—

Rukia slammed into Hitsugaya's back, stumbling a bit before she regained balance. He turned to look at her. She looked down to avoid eye contact, feeling completely idiotic for not watching where she was going. There was a small sigh from Hitsugaya.

"Your feet cannot possibly be _that_ interesting." he deadpanned, shocking her a bit. Damn it, he noticed. Now there was no other way to avoid clouded, cerulean orbs. She lifted her head, reminding herself that she was a Kuchiki.

"What do you mean, Hitsugaya-nushi?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Kuchiki. I know you've been avoiding my eyes. Even during training, you looked everywhere were else but me, which may have been the reason why you did so horribly." She squeezed her hands into tiny fists. He sighed again. "And if it was about last night…then forget everything we've said. Pretend that we've never even held a conversation together that day, if it helps you," _If it helps you forget, _she could almost hear him say. "I promised that I will train you, and you can hardly call it training if you're going to be clouded with thoughts."

She saw the shield come back up again—the same shield that he had up ever since they've first met, the same shield that blocked her from learning anything else about the cold nushi.

'_It was down last night…and this morning.' _She noted. She cold almost feel his iciness doubling. He began to head back to the castle.

Rukia almost perfectly mimicked the same thing he had done the other day with her. She grabbed him by the wrist and forced him to face her. His cold façade dropped momentarily.

"Hitsugaya-nushi. Please do not think of me as somebody who forgets easily." She loosened her grip, just a little, but enough for him to pull free if he wished to.

He didn't move.

"What happened last night was different from anything I have been through. Hitsugaya-nushi, it's not easy being able to know where ever you are, all throughout the day. It's really strange and new. I don't understand why I am able to feel whenever you're in danger, I don't understand why everything you do seems to be doing affecting me. But forgetting is not going to help me in any way." She let go of his hand and walked on, breathing in air shakily through her mouth, leaving Hitsugaya-nushi stunned by her words.

* * *

><p>'<em>If there's one thing Ningyō Michi has taught me, it is how to have fun with your prey.' <em>Nova (Shinsei) thought silently about the reddish/brownish, copper colored dragon. Nova had short, spiky, black hair and dull gray eyes, and the eerie look was topped with pale skin. Anyways, Ningyō, Tousen (the brown dragon) and Gin (the silver dragon) were still in the Storm Kingdom. A few other dragons were sent out to the Light Kingdom, and she and a couple others, were sent to the next Kingdom (the Life Kingdom) to make their claim. The other younger dragons were annoying. They were too giddy about the mission and were jittery and yapping endlessly. She already warned them about it and if they didn't shut it soon, Nova was going take one of them down.

"Silence!" she hissed, keeping pace in the air. The other dragons quieted down. Dull gray eyes flickered ahead of her.

"We will enter the Life Kingdom soon. Ningyō Michi told us to be careful once we get in. The Life Kingdom has guards near the entrance. If we do not complete this mission correctly, we will all be executed." she heard them gulp.

"Hai!" They shouted in unison. Nova picked up speed and soared across the clouds of the Light Kingdom, watching as their destination neared. The large doors stood together—one to enter the Floating Lands, one to get to the Kingdom behind the Light Kingdom (the Storm Kingdom), and one in front of the Light Kingdom (the Life Kingdom). Nova stuck a single claw into the key hole and turned, hearing a satisfying "click" once she finished. The Kingdom Door opened up.

"Proceed." She commanded. The other dragons followed after her into the jungle-like Kingdom. The six dragons changed back to a more humanoid from so they wouldn't be spotted easily. The sword the rested at Nova's hip was pulled out. She nodded for the others to do the same. Step by step, she found herself nearing the couple of guards that were no more than a little distance from where they entered. The black haired female quickly sliced the guarding dragon with her katana. The dragon dropped to the floor.

"Now."

The other guarding dragons had little reaction time, for the moment that Nova had commanded attack; they were going down like leaves in the fall. One after the other, the guarding dragons fell quickly, becoming overpowered by the few offending enemies.

"Come." she said monotonously. As noticed by the other uneasy dragons, Nova wasn't much of a talker. Her one-worded commands came out low, but filled with warning and such sternness that they feared what would be of them of they dared defy her. After all, she did learn from right under ex-Lord Ningyō Michi Samazamana. They ran quickly through the jungles of the Life Kingdoms. Vines, branches, shrubs and many other vegetation's scraped at their legs and arms as they quickly ran by, but they were fine, they knew where they were going and weren't dramatically hurt. The jungle like ground seemed to stretch on forever, though Nova knew better.

"Where are we? Are you sure we're not lost…" One of the dragons asked meekly. Nova whipped her head around.

"I have been practicing to do this for _years_. I know what I am doing." Even though she only spoke a few words, it scared the shit out all of the rookie dragons.

"Y-yes ma'am…" he whispered. Nova knew the layout of the Life Kingdom well. After years of being trained to fight in the Life Kingdom (Aizen wished for perfection in every mission) she had to learn every single thing about the Kingdom. Like the first thing that she was taught; the Kingdom of Life is _very _deceiving. The Kingdom may look just like a world of plants with no sign of dragon-life, but it was all an illusion. Underground, it was like a whole different world. There, the castle, people and many other things were. That included the gem she was supposed to take. She unsheathed her sword once more.

"Naku, Karasu no Kane. (Cry, Crow's Feather)" She stabbed her sword into the ground.

"Move." The other dragons moved back. She would have to see where the gem was placed, after all that was the whole objective of the mission. She couldn't just break into the heart of the Life Kingdom without any idea where it was, that would be just plain foolish. With her sword in the ground, she would be able to tell where anything was in the underground palace. Even so, she would have to be more than careful; she was spreading every ounce of her reiatsu into every nook and cranny into the place. She began. Nova blinked, seeing a foggy image in her eyes of the life Kingdom. She concentrated on moving her reiatsu in the right ways so that she wouldn't bring any alarm to anyone, but at the same time, moving to get a better view of things. Her reiatsu spread out to every room into the castle, searching and seeking out the life gem. At the very top of the Kingdom, she sensed the Kingdom's emerald. It was alone and undefended. She cancelled out her imagery.

"I found it. We're will enter the Life Kingdom now." The others nodded to the command, following closely behind Nova.

* * *

><p>Byakuya had rented out another room in the Seireitei. They have been there for almost a week now. This troubled the Flower Lord greatly. Renji and Ichigo were almost as irritated and confused as Byakuya.<p>

How did Kyro _know_ this?

They've only been with the small dragon female a short time, and they could already tell that she was not who she seemed to be. They could tell she lied about plenty of things so far, but they didn't press her further, they had a bigger problem at hand.

_Aizen._

As long as Byakuya didn't have access to his Kingdom, or _any _kingdom at that, he could do almost nothing. He couldn't warn the other Kingdoms, he couldn't retrieve Rukia back from the Ice Kingdom…All of that was out the window.

Kyro sat at the edge of the bed in her room. She tapped her chin. It was late night. She was pretty sure the others weren't asleep in their rooms, they had been pretty tense for a while, but if they rested or not did not concern her. It was what _they _were doing. And by "they" she didn't mean Byakuya, Ichigo or Renji. She meant Aizen, Gin and Ningyō Michi. They were doing something and she knew it. She had worked most of her life alongside Ningyō Michi back when the Balance Kingdom was still a Kingdom, but the moment that the Kingdom fell… She shuddered. She rather not think about it, she was just glad that she was alive and given a second chance to redeem herself. She was supposed to stay as far away from the Kingdoms as possible, but now she found herself traveling with Lord Kuchiki of the Flower Kingdom.

She was really playing with her life.

She focused back to her original thought; Ningyō Michi and the rest of them. She knew they were plotting against the Kingdom's in secrecy, but she was still confused on the matter. Kyro had left the Balance Kingdom before she was able to get information on the entire plan. Though, she did have some useful info. For example, the main objective of everything that had been done for the past years was for the Balance Kingdom to be rebuilt. Though, that was not the only thing. Kyro knew that Aizen planned to destroy the Kingdoms inside out, weakening them to the point that the Balance Kingdom would be able to absorb the whole Kuzuryū one by one, Kingdom by Kingdom. Kyro didn't know how far he had gotten into the plan, if he had already reached the Death Kingdom, the Seireitei and Kuzuryū were doomed. If not, there would still be hope for someone, _anyone_, to stop this.

* * *

><p>The hours swam away during the day for Rukia. She just sat in silence, closing her fist and opening her fists. She felt conflicted every second since she left the training grounds with Hitsugaya-nushi. There was just no way she could face the icy man again, not after what she confessed. These strange powers…she made it seem as if she had just the slightest control over it. For the love of Kuchiki-nushi…<em>what <em>control? They came when they wanted to. They disappeared when they felt like it. She couldn't find any pattern whatsoever to how they operated or when they came etcetera, etcetera. It was just erratic and unplanned. It was _driving her insane_. She wouldn't be surprised if she just flung herself out the window going mad with these powers—more like burdens. She pulled her knees to her chest. She needed to keep it together. She shouldn't be acting or thinking like this, Orihime need her to be strong. Rukia let out a deep breath. It was silent in her room. She hoped she could use this time to organize her thoughts.

'_Okay, I have plenty of thoughts I need to sort out.' _She thought, glad she was alone. She bit her lip. _'There is something about Hitsugaya-nushi…' _Her cheeks turned a light shade of red. _'I think he can be really kind.' _Her toes curled. _'There's something very different about him. He's not brash and rude like Renji or Ichigo, nor is he as stoic as Nii-sama. He doesn't seem to be as openly affectionate as Kaien-san…but still,' _She released a breath of air, feeling like a silly school girl. _'I may like him. A tiny bit. __**Just**__ a tiny bit. I'll get over him soon, I know it. I'll just give it some time, it'll be gone.'_

'_**Sure it will.'**_ Rukia was startled by Sode no Shirayuki's soft voice. She was soon to process her Zanpakuto's few words.

'_Are you being sarcastic, Shirayuki? Or are you just agreeing with me?' _She inquired. She and her Zanpakuto hardly spoke, so she never really understood what Shirayuki took for sarcasm and such.

'_**Take it as you please.' **_Rukia blew air out of her mouth.

'_You do enjoy prying into my private thoughts, don't you?' _

'_**I'd be lying if I'd said no. Your thoughts are quite entertaining, yet adorable at the same time.'**_

'_Adorable? Shirayuki that may be the last thing it should be called.'_

'_**Take it as you please,' **_she repeated. _**'You're just making things complicated.' **_The confusing Zanpakuto drew back into her Inner World, leaving Rukia to fume silently. Instead of proceeding with her thoughts—Shirayuki's interruption had really put her in a bad mood—she decided that she needed rest. Rest would do the mind and the body good.

She found herself washed over by an uncomfortable darkness. She blinked, to find herself in that _God forsaken place _again—the place where there seemed to be no natural balance of how things were controlled, the place where the laws of physics were continuously tested and broken by the ridiculously _impossible_ things that took same place where Aizen, yes_ Aizen_, had first put her on that suicide mission. She scrunched her bare feet in the wet, clay grounds, her pure, white, sleeping yukata flapping violently in the winds. He then appeared before her.

"Hello, Rukia." To anyone else, his voice may have sounded pleasing to the ear, like milk and honey somehow mixed into a sound, but to her, it sounded like venomous curses.

"_You_." she spat. The man took no notice, or care, to her tone of voice.

"Yes, me."

She clenched her fists.

"Why the hell am I here, again?" she demanded an answer. Hell, she _needed _an answer.

"I thought I explained this to you last time we had a kind, little meeting." His words tapped her memory. "I want you to do something for—"

"_No_." she hissed, cutting him off. He remained undisturbed.

"You do want you freedom, right? Or are you unsure if you really want to leave Hitsugaya's side?"

She growled.

"Hitsugaya-nushi has nothing to do with this! I will not do any more of your 'missions', the last one nearly killed me, and I would've been dead if Hitsugaya-nushi hadn't come." He tilted his head slightly.

"I do not see anything that I have done wrong." Rukia's eyes went wide. Was this man _sick_? Was he insane? He seemed genuine about his confusion on the matter, and if he was serious, Rukia had made a deal with a sociopath. He continued. "I believe all I have done was prove that Hitsugaya cares enough about you to risk his life." His words made sense in a way that Rukia refused to admit.

"I'm not stupid. I don't believe any of your shit anymore." She found herself realizing many things. She laughed humorlessly. "This is just a big cover up, isn't it? You probably don't even care about getting Orihime and I out of the Ice Kingdom! What are you really aiming for, _Aizen_?" The said man clapped.

"I'm impressed; I didn't expect you to catch on so quickly, after all you are a very smart girl. This may be the very reason why I chose you, of all people."

Rukia's eyebrows furrowed.

"What do you mean by 'chose' me?" the raven-head snarled. He took a step forward.

"So you didn't notice?"

"Stop playing games with me!"

He took another step forward. Rukia, being a Kuchiki, stood her ground.

"You didn't notice how odd it was that no one stopped you from proceeding to the Sacrifice grounds?" Violet eyes widened. "You didn't notice how the woman that you spoke to was so bent on making you go to the Sacrifice grounds? You didn't notice that she never stopped you, even when you offered to sacrifice yourself? Rukia, I am appalled! How could you not notice any of that?"

Rukia growled.

"So you planned everything that has happened so far?" she thought bitterly.

"Yes. I have planned for you to come to the Ice Kingdom for a long time, actually. Do not think you are the only one who I have plans for."

Her fists clenched tightly.

"I have plans for Kurosaki, Abarai, Hitsugaya, Kuchiki and many more, Rukia."

'_Father Byakuya and Ichigo?' _For the love of the Kuzuryū, Lord Byakuya had nothing to do what was going on in the Ice Kingdom! Nobody did!

'_This is all my fault.' _she looked crestfallen. If she had never trusted Aizen, no one would be in danger. But no, she just had to be foolish and jeopardize everyone's lives.

Aizen spoke again.

"It seems our conversation had gotten out of hand. I still—"

"_NO_! What makes you think that I would do _anything _for you? Forget it Aizen, you can do it by yourself!"

She turned around and began to walk away, not caring if she didn't know where an exit was.

"I thought you wanted to protect Inoue?"

Rukia's stomach felt poisoned with acid.

"What do you mean? I will always protect Orihime!"

"Is that so? If you do not do what I say, I will personally see to it that she's dead."

"You're fucking lying!"

"_Really_?"

Sand span together beside him, and in a matter of seconds, she found herself staring at Orihime's sleeping figure.

"Orihime!" The next thing she knew, a thin sharp blade was lifted to the orange-head's neck. The silver blade was pressed firmly against her throat, if he put just a bit more pressure onto the blade, blood would definitely be drawn.

"Will you do it now?"

Rukia was defeated. There was nothing she could do.

"Yes."

Orihime disappeared from his grasp, and the nightmare world slowly faded.

"Rukia, expect to see my gift soon." His voice was the last thing she heard before it faded darkness.

* * *

><p>Nova returned to Gin Ichimaru back in the Storm Kingdom. In her hand was the emerald of the Life Kingdom, formally known as Seimei no Hōseki (Gem of Life). She handed the prized item to Gin.<p>

"So how was it fightin' the Life Lord?" he chimed, rather happy looking.

"It was as it was supposed to be." She responded flatly.

"I mean, was it fun?"

"It was gratifying to defeat a Lord. That is as far as it shall go."

"Aw, you ain't no fun." Gin whined. Nova gave him an icy look.

"'Fun' is only involved when you can take your time to torture you enemy until they beg for death. I was not allowed to have 'fun' on this mission." Gin sweat dropped, taking a few steps back.

"Alright, alright, I get it."

Yamiru Shuinjei walked silently throughout her castle. She felt disturbed. She felt as if something wrong was occurring. She felt drained of any energy, her movements came lethargic and slow.

"Kira-fukushō (second in command)!" Yamiru called from her throne in the dark castle. Kira arrived in a matter of seconds.

"Yes, Shuinjei-nushi?"

"Do you feel…strange?"

"No."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

Yamiru sighed, shooing him away with her hand.

"That is all."

"Yamiru-nushi,"

"Yes?"

"I think there are some problems in the other kingdoms."

"What do I care?"

"You may not, but this could be very dangerous for out Kingdom, too."

Yamiru rolled her eyes.

"What is this problem you speak of?"

"We have no contact with any Kingdom."

"Why does this matter?"

"The other Kingdoms can be in danger."

"Let them handle it. Nobody helped us when the Teleportation Kingdom had turned into the Kingdom of Darkness."

Kira sighed.

"Are you sure?"

"Don't question me."

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

><p>Life for Kuchiki Rukia had begun to worsen. A day later she figured out she was going to be training <em>twice<em> a day:

One from Hitsugaya and one from Aizen.

Though, there was a big difference in their training styles. Hitsugaya-nushi usually trained with her making sure that his blade did not cut her, but training with Aizen was a very different thing. If she hadn't moved in time or blocked, she was to be sliced by a sharp katana blade. Also, while training with Aizen, she wasn't exactly training with _Aizen_. It was some cult-looking dragon who went by the name of Gin Ichimaru. She didn't like him at all; he always seemed too happy to cut her with his blade.

Rukia had begun to realize a deplorable truth; whatever happened in that strange, dream-like world happened in the world she was living in. For example, every time Gin had hurt her, all the scars would appear even after he woke up from her daily nightmare. It was truly exhausting her, driving her to a point of insanity, but yet she wouldn't tell anyone for the fear of Orihime's life. She noticed she was getting thin, for the stress was driving her to the point where she felt the need to no longer eat. It was maddening. Though Hitsugaya didn't miss this—not one bit.

While he was training with her, he noticed how frail she was, the soft glow to her skin was gone. She moved almost robotically as if she had to force herself to even lift up her sword. Hitsugaya watched as she swung her katana blade at him, aiming for a head blow—something extremely ruthless, and he's never seen her do that before—and missing. She panted heavily, tired already.

"Kuchiki…" he said, eyebrows knitted together. She looked back at him quickly before swinging at him again, this time trying to slit his throat. He grabbed her wrist before the blade could touch him. He hadn't even told her to pull out her blade; she just did it automatically and started attacking him.

"Kuchiki! Have you gone mad?" he hissed releasing her wrist and jumping out of the way before she could touch him again. She didn't answer him; instead she held her sword erect.

"Mai, Sode no Shira—"

Rukia fell to her knees, clutching her head, the plain katana dropping. She screamed. Cerulean eyes opened wide. What the _hell _was going on?

"Kuchiki!"

She seemed blind and deaf with pain. The training yukata sleeves fell down her emaciated arms to reveal large scars and cuts. He could truly say his mind was muddled. He got down on his knees and grabbed her by the shoulders. He shook her and called her name again. Nothing, absolutely _nothing_.

She mumbled something in audible.

"I cannot understand you!"

She struggled to speak.

"I said…_MOVE!_" She pushed him violently on the chest, sending him a few feet back. Everything else was a blur. Next thing he knew, he found Kuchiki laying completely still with a large gash on her arm.

* * *

><p>Tombi's eyes snapped wide open as she got up from her room in the Death Kingdom's castle. She stumbled out her room door, sword on her hilt, and dashed to Shamashio's private quarters. She swung the door open.<p>

"Dei-nushi!"

The said male turned to her.

"Yes, Gahato-san?"

She clenched and unclenched her fist.

"Any hope on getting the doors open?"

"Uh-huh. They're sealed with not only Aizen's power, but also kido. There's no hope in getting them open."

Tombi swore under her breath.

"Any contact of any Kingdom?"

He shook his head, black hair swaying as he did so.

"No. Though, I did figure out some frightening information."

The Fire Lord frowned, urging him on.

"Come over here." He said, walking over to his desk. A pure white skull on his desk gleamed to life, projecting an image into the air. There was a picture of all 9 Kingdoms in the Kuzuryū.

"All of the Kingdom's doors are locked. There is no exiting or entering from any Kingdom, even the Seireitei cannot enter the Kingdoms."

Tombi nodded slowly.

"Even though I cannot exactly identify what is happening in specific, 4 Kingdoms are going through an unnatural depression. I suspect this is the work of Aizen."

Tombi sighed.

"What are the Kingdoms that have been disturbed?"

"Your Kingdom, Storm Kingdom, Light Kingdom, and Life Kingdom. This is in order of when they happened."

"So the Ice Kingdom was not affected by this?"

"No, not at all. Actually, it seems as if the Kingdom is doing better than all of the other Kingdoms. It's renewed with strength."

"That's strange."

"Why so?"

"Azien skipped the Ice Kingdom, but is traveling through the Kingdoms in order."

"I don't know exactly what to say about that. It may be because he's saving revenge on Hitsugaya-nushi, or maybe he just wanted to. Who knows?"

"Shamashio, I believe that Aizen is disturbing the Kingdoms by stealing their gems. He did that with my Kingdom." Dei looked thoughtful.

"That is very reasonable. Until I figure out what his main intention is, we will not speak of this."

"Hai."

* * *

><p>Hitsugaya whipped his head around, just in time to dodge a flurry of ice shards. A roar sounded off.<p>

He knew this roar—he _dreaded _it.

"We meet again, Hitsugaya." Jinsokuna thundered. Good, God, didn't Hitsugaya already destroy that bastard?

"You again?" he hissed, reaching for his sword. Jinsokuna spewed dozens of ice shards out his mouth, following hot on Hitsugaya's trail.

"Reign upon the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" A thick sheet of ice covered the ice dragon's wings. The slithery serpent broke the ice in one powerful flap. Hitsugaya went airborne.

'_Damn,' _he thought silently, watching Jinsokuna shake the remaining ice of his wings. _'He's gotten stronger since I last remembered.' _

"Die, fool!" More ice shot out, becoming closer and closer to Hitsugaya until her could feel the force of the impact on the ground. The white-haired man moved back and sent a frozen Chinese dragon Jinsokuna's way. The dangerous attack almost hit the oversized Ice Dragon, but failed to touch as he fled the area. Hitsugaya swung again, but the dragon just wouldn't stay still for more than a second. A large ice tail came flying his way. Hitsugaya brought up his sword and clashed with Jinsokuna, fighting for a stronger hold. He let a grunt escape his lips as he flung the other dragon's tail away. The Lord of the Ice Kingdom was becoming furious; no matter what he did, he just couldn't seem to touch Jinsokuna.

"Are you tired yet, Hitsugaya? Or are you still trying to kill me?" the blue bastard sneered. Jinsokuna brought up his wings, and in a power flap, he sent hundreds of ice shards at Hitsugaya. Even so, an attack that dangerous was easily blocked with a wall of ice. Jinsokuna was no match for him in power. He brought his blade to his side.

"No matter how hard you will flap your wings, you cannot simply kill me with shards of ice. Even though we do share the same element, my Hyorinmaru is strongest." Hitsugaya-nushi lifted up his sword, and on command another Chinese ice dragon was sent flying towards his opponent. This time, the only difference was how he used the attack; he command the large chunk of ice to constrict one of Jinsokuna's wings, and hopefully the dragon would be held off long enough for him to kill him. He charged, blade ready to pierce through ice, when the restraints broke. There was no way he would be able to replace them; he was far too close to Jinsokuna.

"Shit!" he swore, ducking under large, razor sharp wings. He heard something stab the ice. He turned around to Rukia, surprisingly standing with her pure white Zanpakuto. He then remembered how prideful she was.

"Kuchiki, fall back!"

"No…" she rasped faintly, using her sword for support. He looked at her arm; it was terribly cut and bruised. He viewed behind her and spotted a puddle of blood. _Lots _of blood.

"Kuchiki—" he was cut off by a large tail swinging his way. He dodged it.

"Focus on your opponent, fool!"

Rukia breathed in deeply, gathering all of her current reiatsu.

"Ju…haku…" A large sheet of ice covered the ground, finding its way to Jinsokuna and freezing him entirely. Hitsugaya stared in awe, but quickly gained composure, seizing his chance to rid of Jinsokuna. He slammed his sword onto the large mass of ice. Both Jinsokuna and Kuchiki's attack shattered into billions of small pieces, raining upon the training ground. It almost seemed as if the harmless snow falling was never once a dangerous revengeful creature. Though, Hitsugaya knew better.

Sode no Shirayuki deactivated back to a plain katana blade as Rukia fell, face-down into the ice.

* * *

><p>Konata, Lord of the Kingdom of Crystals, sighed. With nothing to do, she found herself sitting in her office doing paperwork for hours on end. She did paperwork, every day, but usually hours at a time. She was sitting in the seat for so long, her back began to hurt.<p>

"This is ridiculous…" She groaned, stretching her wrists. She almost felt like going to sleep, with the sun beating down on her back, warming her hoari as if it were a blanket, she found herself tempted. But Konata wasn't the one for temptations. She sat upright and rubbed her eyes. Ukitake-san was ill, once again, see she was doing his work, too. She got up from her seat and walked over to her window, closing it.

She took in a sudden intake of air.

"I feel as if something's wrong…"

Konata rushed over to her desk and started looking through the unread reports. She found one that piqued her.

_REPORT_

_FROM: BURAKKU ISHI KENKYŪ SENTĀ (Black Stone Research Center)_

_TO: LORD SHOMAKU KONATA_

_Attention:_

_Lord Shomaku, I apologize for this disturbance to you. The Black Stone Research Center (In Sutōnzu no Tochi—Land of Stones) has found many maladies in the following Kingdoms: Fire Kingdom, Storm Kingdom, Light Kingdom and Life Kingdom. If these following occurrences continue in its path, there is a great possibility that Crystal Kingdom may be affected. We have also congregated enough information to figure out that the all of the Kingdom's doors have been sealed with an unidentified power and Kido. The Research Team has already been sent off to investigate for further information; we did not have time to request your permission. They are investigating the entrance to the Life Kingdom, the Floating Lands, the Entrance to the Flower Kingdom, and the secret passage into the Kōkan no ōkoku (Replacement Kingdom). Please do not take our warnings lightly._

_-KUROTSUCHI MAYURI_

* * *

><p>Rukia's eyes fluttered open. She felt unbelievably sore, but yet icily soothed at the same time. She noticed her surroundings; she was back in her room. Rukia looked up to see two pairs of hands upon the blue healing shield of Orihime's Sōten Kisshun. One pair of hands belonged to Orihime, the other to Hitsugaya-nushi. She finally realized why the typically orange healing shield was blue; Hitsugaya-nushi's reiatsu was combined with Orihime's, thus giving the shield a blue glow.<p>

"Rukia-hime!" Orihime sounded, smiling in relief. "I'm so happy you woke up quickly! Lord Hitsugaya and I were so worried!"

Rukia could tell Orihime was extremely anxious during her slumber; she looked quieted pale and tired.

"Kuchiki, you nearly killed yourself back there." He said sternly, giving her a scolding look. Rukia struggled to sit up with all the bandages wrapped around her arm.

"No! Rukia-hime, you must not move! Your wound will reopen!"

The raven-head stopped moving.

"Hitsugaya-nushi," she started, becoming tired again. "I wanted to help you."

"I could've handled things by myself."

"…I know that. I apologize, Hitsugaya-nushi. If I hadn't brought Jinsokuna back to life—"

"Silence." he hissed, causing her to close her lips together. "You're being a scapegoat. Not even I knew there was even such a vile thing that existed in the Ice Kingdom. Stop blaming yourself."

Rukia looked down bashfully.

"Hai, Hitsugaya-nushi." Orihime bit her lip.

"Rukia-hime, you must return to sleep; you've lost too much blood. We'll heal you for a couple more minutes and then hopefully the wound will close up just enough for you to move your arm around."

Rukia didn't need to be told twice.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Next chapter will be a flashback. :D If you have any questions, feel free to ask. Drop a review and…**

**Join the HitsuRuki Army!**


	8. Her Evils

**A/N: Flashback chapter. Unlike Silence of Night (having 3 flashback chapters), this will be the only one. The present-plot will continue the next chapter. =3 Also, the time that everything happen in will be separated into two segments: the **_**First Arrival**_**, the**_** Return**_**, and**** the **_**Second **__**Return**_**, both describing the return of Aizen. Chapter title was inspired by a song, "Tammy's Song (Her Evils)", by Kendrick Lamar. You guys should check it out~;D Just to let you know, the lyrics of the song has nothing to do with this chapter. I also changed one of the genres from adventure to angst, since now I know there will be a lot of fighting and perhaps even deaths in chapters from here on out. This chapter is 12,000 words. More than likely, there will be mistakes.**

**Signed,**

**-Oten**

**-Ketsueki Neko (Of course RayRay had to help; only she can make my stories dark)**

**-Getsumen**

**Dedication: Sulfur Dusk! She/he is an amazing author, and I advise you check out her/his stories! *Gah, I don't know your gender. Lol, I suck. ;~;**

**Dedication 2: Denidene! She's a great author and friend; check out her stories if you wanna' read something good!**

**Warning: OOC, dark, gore, can be described as light macabre**

* * *

><p><em><span>Sacrifice to the Dragon<span>_

_Chapter: 8_

_Her Evils_

* * *

><p><em><strong>The First Arrival<strong>_

* * *

><p>"Hurry up, boy! You're taking too damn long!"<p>

The white haired boy glanced up from his bent over position. Cerulean eyes wavered tiredly from the one of the many teachers, and back to the large group of able-bodied men who dashed far ahead of him.

'_Shit.'_

When the people told him about the struggles of lord-trainings, they never said anything about it being _this _hard. Their expectations were ludicrous for young men such as him. To begin with, you had to be able to conduct every legal Kido spell without incantation _and _it has to be the same level or higher than what it would be with the incantation. You had to be able to stay airborne in such a dangerously high altitude area with no help whatsoever—that meant you would be flapping your wings the whole time to keep your body up. Before you even _entered _the academy, you had to already have Shikai and Ban-release or Bankai. No exceptions. Your knowledge had to be at tip-top shape, along with your physical and mental endurance. There was no mercy or pity in this school; it was either you win or you lose with nothing in between.

Unfortunately for Hitsugaya, he wasn't at the best state compared to the other males. Many of them were much older than him. They had more experience than he did. But it didn't matter what age you were; as long as you joined the Lord Training Academy your expectations, although impossibly high, were to be met. When you've reached this level in the academy, they started slimming down the choices as to who would be the next Lord of the Ice Kingdom. So far, he could tell he wasn't even in their top fifty choices.

Sucking in a lungful of shaky air, Toshiro started running again. The others were far out of sight now, but the heavy foot prints in the snow were enough to lead him to his destination. He forced his legs to keep on moving despite the everlasting protest to stop and the icy burn in his chest. Goodness, maybe they would kick him out of academy for being so far behind. They were known for giving students the boot for simple things.

After what seemed like eternity, the towering building of the academy came into sight. Outside of the grayish structure was the large group of males he's been previously running with. They seemed too busy in a conversation, a very loud one at that, to even notice his presence. Though he was glad they paid him no mind. All they seemed to be good for was bragging and boasting left and right, flaunting their test scores and assessment's in people's face. By the look of them and their behavior, one could tell a majority of them came from one of the wealthy Floating Lands. That's where most of the Lord's seemed to come from. The last lord to come from a poor place like he did was thousands of years ago. Huh, the more he thought about it, his chances for becoming one of select few nominated for the spot of Lord were getting smaller and smaller.

The white haired male gave slight interest about the big commotion. At first he didn't notice, but students from the prestigious academy were flooding out of the doors like water escaping a faucet. Their usual training yukata was replaced by a neat, black shihaukusho. Usually the students weren't required to wear them unless…

'_Fuck! Damn it, damn it, damn it—why did it have to be today?'_

Today was the day that the Ice Kingdom second-in-command visited. The fukushō would stay overnight at the school for two days, on the third morning, he or she left. The school usually only did that when the number of possible lords were too high and they needed a serious cut-down. It would be the fukusho's job to decide whichever students' should stay or not. Today was all about first impressions and there he was, sweaty, sticky and informal. Goodness, he stuck out like a sore thumb against all the black and dark colors that surrounded him.

One command was clear on mind: he needed to get inside of the building and change before the second-in-command arrived. He sped along the frozen cobblestone pathway the led up to the gray, ominous school filled with instructors that daunted him and students who miffed him. He briefly wondered why most of the pathways and sidewalks in the Ice Kingdom were cobblestone when they were slippery when frozen. That would be just as stupid as the Storm Kingdom getting marble sidewalks and pathways when it rained all the damn time. He almost crashed into the thick, wooden doors because of the slippery stone beneath him. Luckily, he caught himself. Though, that did nothing to prevent him from fruitlessly tugging on the doors that refused to budge. Damn it, they were locked. He should've known; even the headmaster of the school was outside participating in the tedious event. They wouldn't let anybody in even if they paid them.

From the chorus of "shh" and "hush", he could tell the fukushō was arriving or had already arrived. Soon, the large crowd of people became dead silent. So silent that even as far away as he was, he could him the steps of the fukushō as he or she landed in the crisp snow. He pressed his back against the cold doors and looked up at the sky. It pretty much hopeless now. His goal to impress the mom that readily abandoned him at the steps of his grandmother's door was out the window now. Ever since the moment he was born, a fatherless bastard, his mother showed no emotion towards him. Soon enough, she left him to his grandmother. And it wasn't even in a somewhat what formal way—even though there was no formal way to give up and hand away your flesh and blood. She hastily dropped him off at the porch of his grandmother's house, late at night while a steadily rising blizzard grew. Huh, maybe she was hoping he'd die before his grandmother would see her failure. Ever since that day, his grandmother told him she'd never seen her again. Perhaps she was too ashamed? Or would she just look at him in disgust and walk away? The dark clouds gathering above him only influenced his withdrawal as his thoughts plunged deeper and darker.

Little did he know, the attendants to his school kneeled low in respect. They were to stay low until the fukushō told them to stand. But instead, the mischievous second-in-command told them to move aside so she had a clear path and view of the solitary student.

Toshiro's blank eyes blinked once, but it was only by instinct. He was far in the back of his mind, too far back to even have control of what he was doing outside of his mental state. Even so, a bright color entering his vision was enough to snap him out of his trance. Big eyes blinked. Once. Twice. And then he frowned at the bubbly, overly cheerful face. He, never once seeing the fukushō in his life, had no idea that the full-lipped, curvaceous woman in front of him _was _the fukushō.

"Hello, there." she almost sang. He suppressed a growl. The female in front of him wore no special clothes to specify that she was of a higher-rank. So to him, she was just the same as everybody else; an annoying, rich student looking for somebody to bother. And he was definitely not in the mood for that.

"What the hell do you want?" he muttered bitterly, looking into pale blue eyes. Waves of jasmine and flowers radiated off of her in waves, filling his nostrils. Though in his opinion, the scent was too strong. A frown tugged at her lips and she squatted down to meet eye-to-eye. But unfortunately for him, the strawberry blonde in front of him was taller than him. Actually, she was too tall, so instead it was more eye-to-bosoms than anything. He quickly averted his eyes.

"What's wrong with you?" she murmured, half concerned.

"It's none of your business." He retorted icily.

She raised one eyebrow. Did he not know who she was? The disrespect he was showing was most definitely heard by everyone else. He was lucky that she still had everyone else in kneeling position or else the headmaster would've removed the student long ago. She decided it was best to enlighten him before he got himself in anymore trouble.

"I am Rangiku Matsumoto." She said after a pause. His face remained indifferent, clearly stating he had no clue as to who she was. She sighed. "I am the fukushō of the Ice Kingdom."

There was a quick flash of shock, but the uncaring façade went back up in an instant. She waited a few heartbeats later to see what he would do.

"And?"

His one-worded answer did not surprise her; actually, she had it coming. He, unlike many, didn't frantically apologize afterward and bow; kissing her feet as if there was no tomorrow. He stood his ground, unshaking, unmoving, and unchanged. And frankly, she understood why. Seeing he didn't know her up until now, she did nothing to prove herself worthy of his respect. Arrogant it may seem, but it was a sign of leadership that quite a few people didn't have. He would not give her respect just because she had a title; that would have to be earned, even if it were from someone as lowly as himself.

The people who were kneeling silently awaited his punishment. But it never came. In its place, a wholehearted chuckle filled the silence. Matsumoto reached out and messed with his spiky hair, making it messier than it already was. She then stood up and signaled with her hands that everyone else could follow in suit.

"What's this boy's name?" she called out into crowd. The headmaster spoke up.

"His name is Toshiro Hitsugaya, Matsumoto-fukushō."

A subtle smile took over her features.

"Well I suggest you don't take this kid out of this school." Toshiro stared wildly at her; he was pretty sure she would kick him out first. "This boy has lots of potential."

* * *

><p><em><strong>The Return<strong>_

* * *

><p>Her training was everything but merciful, even so, she would never complain. She dedicated her life to this, doing this. Every single flaw or imperfection she made, she would see to it that she was punished in the cruelest ways, be it severing her body or locking herself up in the darkest dungeon without any light or food for days, weeks even. She was a brutal, merciless killer with no morals, the predator who silently and patiently waited for the chance to strike victims. That killer's name was Kyrotsukio Kyoku; fukushō of the Balance Kingdom.<p>

Kyro had little to no patience for games; she was only for business. Toy around with her time—how she valued and savored time—and you'd end up dead with a brutal blow to the head. And this horrible way of conduct was formed by two things, two dragons, which shaped it so that it was lopsided and twisted, missing areas where mercy and love should fit. Those two beasts were Ningyō Michi-nushi and Nova-fukushō. Ningyō Michi was her obsession, and Nova was her hatred, her jealousy, her reason to kill. Kyro was cognitive, always thinking, trying to find a way to come on top. She was a tactician; perhaps you could call her that.

During this stage of Kyro's life, she was an older looking woman, one with curves, scintillating, lithesome and voluptuous to the eye. She had long pink hair (usually kept up in a ponytail), and full lips. She still had her same pale skin—that being a genetic being passed down in her bloodline—and long eyelashes. Truly pleasing to look at, but appearances got you nowhere in the Balance Kingdom.

The said woman ducked out of the way of a large, sleek, black blade, hardly moving in time.

_'Nova…' _the name was like a curse in her skull. How she loathed that disgusting female…

The short-haired female felt the tip of her blade. She poked it, twice, and removed her finger, examining the small specks of blood that came from her opponent.

"A shallow, small cut; aren't you lucky." She drawled out with no emotion. Kyro slanted her eyes, the edge of her lips tugging downwards in a frown.

Nova constantly picked a fight with her "partner". At least twice a week they were at it, almost like animals. It was just to see which female was Alpha, which one was Omega, you know, with both of them being the fukushō of the Balance Kingdom, they couldn't settle for having "match strength". There was just no room in their pride for them to accept that there was another just as strong they were.

Kyro pulled out her Zanpakuto, calling upon her sword spirit.

"Soar, Rakuen no Tori." The blade transformed into a large, bulky, silver katana with various colors on it. She gave Nova a cold glare, taking in a deep breath. This was becoming pointless; while she did want to prove to be the better fukushō, fighting ruthlessly wasn't the way to do it. Ningyō Michi would only sniff or cackle at their behavior, then finishing off with a snide comment and a sneer. That wasn't the way she wanted Ningyō Michi to think of her. But Nova had no intent on stopping, she was an iconoclast bent on believing that she was superior to all others.

"I see you finally pulled out your Zanpakuto. I am pleased by this." Nova spoke with such authority as if she owned both Kyro and the Balance Kingdom. Nova needed to get that stick pulled out of her ass; she didn't own the world, so she believed in that close-minded head of hers. Kyro slanted her eyes.

"You need to stop; Ningyō Michi-nushi will not be fond of this. While I do not like you, I am not trying to get my position revoked for such a silly little fight. Sheath your sword as I will do mine."

The rosette wondered why she even bothered. She was cognizant that Nova wouldn't stop till either she was killed or Kyro ran away from the fight. Nova sniffed, berating the other second-in-command with her eyes and body movement.

"I do not want to be known as your 'equal'. I am obviously stronger than you. I will not settle for such a lackadaisical position. I'll be damned."

The prideful raven-head charged at Kyro, letting out a grunt. But the other fukushō really didn't have time for this—this foolishness. How mad Ningyō Michi would be! Did Nova not care? Was this not one of the reasons they were fighting? The rosette grabbed Nova arm, the one holding the weapon, and held it tightly. She wasn't exactly attacking, but having such a vice-grip that her arm was sure to bruise. The offending female growled low in her throat then quickly pulled free.

"Such a simple trick cannot kill me!"

Kyro gave her a look.

"I wasn't trying to kill you. I was just seeing if I can hold you off long enough to get a good shot. It seems as if I can." She stuck two fingers in front of her. "Bakudō #61, Rikujōkōrō!"

Six yellow beams jabbed into Nova's abdominal, capturing her arms and immobilizing her. The opposing female thrashed around, trying to break the Kido spell.

"Bastard!" the raven-head spat. Kyro sniffed, sticking out her fingers again, preparing for another spell.

"Bakudō #76, Gochūtekkan!" The Kido master's spell formed four large pillars around her target. They were incredibly thick and were connected by chains that would pin her opponent to the ground. Kyro's lips flattened into a thin line. That was as far as Bakudō she could perform without incantation or draining her reiatsu. She sheathed her sword and dusted off her hands, carefully walking around the pillars. She had a meeting to attend to with Ningyō Michi, Tousen Kaname, Gin Ichimaru and the others. She quickly entered the castle, dashing up the flights of stairs. The maids bowed low to her, many groveling in fear rather than respect. Finally, she found herself at the top of all of the floors in the castle; the Grand Meeting Room. The rosette took in a slow breath of air, slightly leaning against the cold metal doors before pushing them open, letting a gust of wind fly at her. Green eyes wandered down to the ground before she kneeled. Her pale knees turned white against the granite floor.

The Grand Meeting Room was lightly decorated. The walls were a soft color of beige, no pictures hung on the wall. The lengthy thick curtains were a dark red color, almost darker than cyan, and appeared to be Victorian style. Of course this decoration was not Ningyō's choice, but Aizen's, and the sly male wanted the room to stay the way it is.

Ningyō Michi stood from his chair, walking over to her silently. His hoari swayed with each stride he made, his spiky, ash red hair made the lightest movements, but she watched it all.

"Ningyō Michi-sama." she said silently. He looked down at her, dark brown eyes holding an expression known as trivialness.

"You're late."

She balled her fists, feeling intense hatred for Nova. The bastard made her late on purpose! The smaller woman took in a small breath of air.

"I apologize, Ningyō Michi-sama! Shinsei was being…uncooperative and proceeded to make me late."

He sniffed. He sneered—just as she knew he would—and proceeded with a snide comment.

"Fuckin' bastards."

He turned away and took his seat at the large table. Gin Ichimaru still held that same, mocking grin on his face, even when Ningyō threw the man a dirty look. Kyro took her stand a step behind Ningyō, who sat in the largest chair at the table.

"Let's get this meetin' started." He leaned forward onto the table. There were many others at the table, also. Other trustworthy—not exactly, they were just willing to follow—dragons that Aizen had handpicked before he was defeated were sitting quietly, waiting for a command from their temporary leader. The burly leader cracked his knuckles.

"We've been practicin' this thing for a while. We should all now the plan by now. But I'll go over it for all the fuckin' idiots that are sittin' at this table right now!" His eyes rolled over a few select dragons.

"Aizen wants us to follow his orders step by step. I really don't give a fuck for the power, I just wanna' good fight, but still, ya' assholes gotta' listen or else you'll be killed." He smirked at their irritated expressions. A blue-haired male dragon with icy blue eyes, Grimmjow Jeagerjaques, glanced menacingly at Ningyō, same as a lanky, scrawny one—Nnoitra Gilga—and a rosette freak—Szayelapporo Grantz. Though he knew they wouldn't dare advance toward him, he could have all of them sliced in half in one strike. He continued.

"Aizen's goal is ta' get this Kingdom rebuilt once it gets knocked down. We already know the rest of the Kuzuryū been plannin' to destroy the Balance King after Aizen's betrayal, but that's the plan anyways. The Kingdom has to be wrecked in orduh' to rebuild itself at stronger level. The only difference from what this Kingdom is now and what Aizen wants it to be is its size and people. The rest of the Kuzuryū will be destroyed from the inside out." He paused to let the information sink in.

"And I mean that by stealin' the gems. Once the gems are gone, the Kingdom'll fall under a depression and weaken the barriers. The soul particles that make up the Kingdom will disappear until the Balance Kingdom will be able to suck it right up." He gave them a lazy look.

"As we already know, Umiyuri no kaseki's (their gem) been demolished. Our kingdom's startin' to fall already! It's just a lil' bit time before Aizen rises again." The battle-hungry leader glanced around to make sure everyone was paying attention.

"In order to absorb the Kuzuryū, we must have our gem. We need the Fire Gem, Teleportation Gem (now known as the Darkness Gem), Ice Gem, etcetera, etcetera to rebuild the Balance Gem. It shouldn't be hard to get the all the other Gems, but gettin' the Ice Gem will be a bitch." Ningyō glanced behind him to his fukushō.

"Finish the rest of the plan. I'm tired of talkin'."

She nodded obediently.

"Yes, Ningyō Michi-sama."

"The Ice Gem has been prophesied for many years to be mended within the very soul of a female dragon." She took in a deep breath of air. This was one of the few times that she actually spoke during a meeting. "That female dragon I speak of will be the child of Kuchiki Byakuya and Kuchiki Hisana. As of now, their lives will be spared until the birth of their heiress." She folded and unfolded her hands.

"She will be sent to the Ice Kingdom. When we are finished confiscating the Gems from the Kuzuryū, Aizen will personally return and remove the Ice Gem, then switch her over to Umiyuri no kaseki using the rest of the other gems. Aizen hopes that Ice Lord Toshiro Hitsugaya will develop a spiritual, emotional and physical relationship with the Ice Gem. He wishes to see him broken and defeated when she is taken away."

Ningyō continued for her, cutting her off when she opened her mouth to speak.

"But this won't occur until a lotta' time later. Aizen still hasn't returned from his d—"

The ground shook violently as the temporary Lord silenced himself. Not out of fear, but simply out of slight surprise. All of the chairs rattled against the unstable land, the decoration in the room fell to the ground and the loud rumbles made Ningyō Michi smirked darkly. He swore that sneaky bastard could hear him at times.

"Heh, I guess I was wrong. Here comes Aizen right now!"

* * *

><p>The silence was thick and heavy, a brooding, ominous tension surrounded the two inhabitants of the large office. The small Lord almost choked on it. It felt as if he was weighed down to the bottom of the river, trying desperately to breathe when the air was not to come. He never removed his eyes from the images before him; he would not miss a single thing that happened. Matsumoto held a slight frown on her features, and for once, she was very serious. With arms folded under her breasts, she briefly glanced at the short nushi's rigid form. He was tense and without doubt was already coming up with some sort of plan to save the Kuzuryū for the second time. She pitied the younger male. The world seemed to throw everything his way, even the impossible returned to haunt him.<p>

"Aizen has returned, Hitsugaya. He's caused too much destruction." The holographic lord looked down. "Lord Iyashi's dead."

Lady Hsariku Shai's Kingdom was overrun.

"The Fire Kingdom is invaded! My Kingdom can't hold back all of these dragons, there are too many of them!"

Lord Tombi Gahato's Kingdom was down.

"The Life Kingdom is in shambles! There is no hope for it!"

Second-in-command Marayuki Suki's Lord was dead. Now the Life Kingdom was being destroyed.

"The Teleportation Kingdom is completely in the process of inhalation."

Lord Yamiru Shuinjei's Kingdom was hopelessly destroyed. She had not the slightest hint of hope in her dejected voice.

The white haired Lord could not believe this—an emergency contact from all Kingdoms at the same time warning him about Kingdom-spread wars occurring all at once. Even from just glancing behind the lord's worried, frantic or hopeless faces, he could only witness the minimal damage. Truly, macabre was the only way to describe it. The gore and the carnage were off the charts in each hologram. It made his stomach sick, but he somehow managed to keep his dinner in. Yes, dinner. It was late at night; his precious sleep was disturbed because of war. Luckily he managed to change into the suitable outfit—wearing his sleeping yukata to war wasn't exactly acceptable—and rushed over to his office to discover such horrible news.

"Hitsugaya-nushi! Aizen is escaping from my Kingdom and into yours! I will try to stall him for as long as I can! I don't know if there's enough ti—"

The Fire Lord's connection shut down. He looked around frantically as the rest of the holographic images disappeared also. This was a catastrophic emergency. The whole situation—all in the fault of the Balance Kingdom! Hitsugaya-nushi and a few other Lords have been trying to get approval from the Seireitei "Lord", Yamamoto (Even though Yamamoto doesn't own the other Kingdoms, they have to consult him before they make drastic decisions), to get rid of the Balance Kingdom. But the old man refused, he stated "Getting rid of one of the Kingdoms could cause too many problems both economically and physically. It is too risky. This action will not be allowed."

"Matsumoto! Set up barriers around the Kingdom! We need the whole perimeters surrounded. I need Yashiroi to put the entrance to Seireitei and Floating Lands on lock! Everyone else must stay in the castle!"

Matsumoto ran off at top speed, filling out his orders without hesitation. He grabbed his sword and attached it to his back. Since his office was at one of the highest floors of the castle, he didn't have time to go down all the flights of stairs. He quickly opened his window—looks like he was jumping out. The ground shook and rumbled underneath him, nearly throwing him off balance and out of the gaping exit.

"_Shit_!" he hissed under his breath.

Aizen was coming closer, he could tell. With his hand clutched tightly around the metal rim of the window, he leaped out of it, sliding a bit on the roof of the large castle. The youngest Lord held a distant look in icy blue eyes; Aizen, that fucking bastard, how the hell did he return?

_'The Balance Kingdom...' _That God forsaken Kingdom had something to do with it and he knew it! That Kingdom had to be destroyed, but the Kingdoms were at war; there was no time to remove the Balance Kingdom—not yet. He bunched his leg muscles together and with a mighty leap, he spiraled into the air and off of the roof. What an odd sight to see, the respectable Lord of the Ice Kingdom leaping out one of the highest ranging room's window. Those with the slightest bit of knowledge would think that he's committing suicide, but those who actually knew the strength of a nushi would know that jumping out of a window wouldn't do the trick.

There was only a brief moment that he remained still in the air. Using this time, he let his mind briefly go blank. The process of physically changing into a dragon was a unique and magical, yet frightening, thing. For those who began, it was difficult and almost impossible to control or manage, but for a lord it was a remarkable instinct. He calmed down, his racing, adrenaline-driven heart slowed down to its original pace. Despite such pressing matters, Hitsugaya had to relax; if he was in panic he'd never be able to transform. Back in the recesses of his mind, he pictured darkness. Just unmoving stillness as he patiently awaited the transformation that would soon arrive. A soft chime, almost like a bell, sounded; in seconds, a monstrous roar filled with much intensity, animosity and spite filled in the silence. The wake of the dragon is what some might call it. His eyes opened, though this time his vision was much sharper. His senses were keen, his hearing enhanced to hear the wails of people from far away, his sense of smell refined—at this state he was almost the idolization for dragon-strength. The icy, cold-hearted nushi darted away at unrecognizable speeds, whizzing past countless frosted trees.

The closer Hitsugaya got, the more murderous he found himself. That fucking monster—how could he have managed to put the Kingdoms into shambles so quickly? It hadn't been any longer than maybe a month (in his Kingdom) and the Kingdoms were crumbling to the ground! So many innocent dragons murdered in his massive slaughter to do what? Play _God_? Pretend as if he owned this fucking world? The balls of that dragon! With much clarity, he remembered, word for word, the exact thing he said when he first betrayed the Kuzuryū;

'"_You see, Hitsugaya, the Kuzuryū was built since beginning with people who were all agnostic. They were unable to know if there was a god or not, so they settled with calling themselves lords. Even so, many, many people are living in discomfort because of this lack of knowledge. Is there a god or not? I am doing this all because I want to put their hearts at ease. There is a god. _I _am God."'_

Hitsugaya had defeated him once, and could only hope that he would be able to defeat him again.

Though, however, Hitsugaya knew Aizen wasn't stupid, he had no choice but to admit he was a very intelligent man; that ability to manipulate the minds of all of the Lords and its people, including him, was both impressive and frightening. It was without doubt that he's gotten stronger since he's last fought him.

He glanced above him to see the transparent-sapphire colored barrier form around the mainland of the Kingdom. Good, that meant neither Matsumoto nor Yashiroi were stopped by Aizen's people. He neared an exceptionally vast and populous city, Shimo-shi (Frost City), the Ice Kingdom's capital.

_'Fuck, fuck, fuck!' _A series of foul words spewed from every corner of his mind. Darkened cerulean eyes unconsciously narrowed into slits.

Of course Aizen would be at Shimo-shi! Why? Because the asshole wanted everybody to see the destruction he's made. He wished to mock every fiber of Hitsugaya by destroying a city so close to where he spent most of his days. He wanted the world to see his intention of being some type of God! He wanted his people to cower in fear! Hitsugaya would be damned if he let that filth do any more damage. He was able to pinpoint Aizen from the bloodcurdling screams and massive smog that slowly moved into the air. He didn't even have to look to know it was a massacre down there; he could smell the irony scent of blood coming up in waves. It only fueled his bloodlust. He wanted Aizen's blood to paint the ice beneath him.

Another series of buildings exploded, another round of screaming that hushed into a ghastly silence…though it was less than before. Who knew how much people were still alive in Shimo-shi? Were there even any survivors?

Hitsugaya dove down, picking up speed with each meter that whizzed past him. Perhaps a few yards from the ground, he changed back to his humanoid figure. Well, more or less; the unrecognizable snarls made him sound animalistic. Ungracefully and without care, he landed roughly onto the blood and flesh painted grounds. The impact from his shaky landing created massive cracks and caved in the very ground beneath him. The smoke cleared, just a bit, so he could see the silhouette of his mortal enemy.

"_**Aizen**_." he hissed through clenched teeth. He picked himself off the ground. The tiny Lord glowered menacingly at the evil creature that shared the same earth as him.

"Hitsugaya." His voice was monotone, though a hint of expectance and amusement slipped through.

The white haired leader wasn't in the mood for games; he came here to kill—to kill Aizen. He unsheathed Hyorinmaru.

"So serious, are we?" He chatted, his futile and irritating attempt for small-talk boiling the younger male's blood. Through the shadows Aizen stepped. His face held speckles of blood, his hands was dripping the crimson liquid onto the floor. Even more blood stained his plain-white clothing. He glanced down at himself. "Oh my, I'm such a mess. What a shame; I can't seem to play without dirtying my clothes." A small, cruel smile played at his lips.

Multiple footsteps sounded behind Hitsugaya, but the icy Lord didn't dare to look back. He held his word tightly.

"Aren't you going to attack?"

The brown haired dragon gave him an uncaring look, as if Hitsugaya was mere ant that wondered past the soles of his waraji. He gripped his sword tighter, reminding himself to stay calm. If he were to charge wildly at Aizen, as he desired, he could be easily taken down. He remained silent.

"Silence? I suppose so; you were never the one to disobey."

He took in a shaky breath of air.

_'Remain calm.'_ He told himself. It was hard to remain calm when the only images that ran through his vision were red—blood red at that.

"Hitsugaya-nushi!"

Matsumoto's voice neared as he was able to identify the two footsteps that he heard a bit earlier. Just a step behind him, he spotted Matsumoto, and on the other side was Yashiroi. Yashiroi was mostly seen as a large, looming, Ice Wyvern, but only a few select people knew that he could change into a more humanoid figure. Yashiroi's human figure was shown as a tall, young-man, with back-length pale-blue hair and light blue eyes. He had pale skin that was only a few shades tanner than white. Most of his body was covered by a huge, white cloak and he held a bladed silver staff.

"Matsumoto, Yashiroi, stay back! This is not your fight." He especially stressed the last sentence; he wanted to be the one to annihilate the hellion in front of him.

"No need to worry Hitsugaya, I can fix that."

At a snap of Aizen's finger, two female figures appeared beside him. Hitsugaya swore under his breath. One of them was a rather flat-chested female with black hair, pale skin and dull, gray eyes. The other was a taller, bustier female with long pink hair (in a ponytail) and green eyes.

"Nova, Kyrotsukio, keep the other two busy while I chat with Hitsugaya."

The two females nodded, disappeared, and reappeared beside the short nushi before hurling his subordinates into nearby buildings.

"Matsumoto!" he whipped his head around frantically, his eyes searching for the full-chested fukushō in the debris. "Matsumoto!"

"Now that our distractions are gone, shall we continue our conversation?"

"Fucking _**die**_!"

It was one thing to taunt Hitsugaya, but it was a death's wish if you dare hurt Matsumoto (Hitsugaya thought of Matsumoto like a close sister; she could read him as easily as he could to her)! Hitsugaya charged at Aizen.

The taller male seemed completely unfazed. He lifted up one hand and caught Hitsugaya's blade in his palm, not a single scratch or cut appearing. The short-tempered, white-haired captain's eyes widened momentarily, before jumping out of the way of any possible attacks. He looked at his shoulder, feeling a small sting. There, he spotted a small cut, though bleeding, on his right shoulder. He hadn't even seen Aizen move!

Though, the situation at hand wasn't the tiny cut, but the fact that the arrogant, narcissistic man before him had his Zanpakuto.

He briefly remembered something that the Fire Lord had taught him during her rare visits.

_'"There are a lot of things you can learn from the Teleportation Kingdom. For example, you can learn teleportation spells (Nenriki idō, Teleportation. Formally known as Ways of Teleportation or Tēshon no shikata)! I'm no master at it, but I do know how to do quite a few tricks. Teleportation is kind of like Kido, it has incantations, numbers, ranks and all! I learned how to teleport my Zanpakuto to me without even going anywhere! It's amazing!"_

Hitsugaya silently thanked the talkative Lord for her endless positive chitchat about the Teleportation Kingdom. He muttered the spell under his breath and gathered his reiatsu in his palms. In an instant, the lengthy sword returned to him.

Aizen only glanced at the palm that once held the Ice Lord's sword.

"Tēshon no shikata? I am surprised you know it."

"Shut up! Bankai!"

* * *

><p>Matsumoto shakily got up, holding her bleeding right arm tightly.<p>

_'Damn, these dragons are tough.'_

That pink-haired dragon was something else; it was a wonder how she was able to just sling Matsumoto around as if she were a rag doll. The strawberry blonde lifted her Zanpakuto in front of her, ignoring the large slash in her arm.

"Growl, Haineko!"

The blade of the sword turned into ash, billowing the frosted, bloody grounds of Shimo-shi. The green-eyed female before her pulled out her sword also.

"Soar, Rakuen no Tori!"

In seconds, the two clashed; ash against feathers. The Balance fukushō moved diligently, being careful as to where she moved and how she attacked while Matsumoto was slightly perturbed, wondering if there were any open areas. She swung her hilt, ash surrounding the offending woman.

"Saikuron (Cyclone)!"

The pallid woman sent off a flurry of heavy winds. Matsumoto lifted her arm to block some of the wind, trying to see past the snow that clouded the air. The cyclonic motion completely absorbed all of the ash that enclosed the rosette, leaving Matsumoto to gape in wonder.

The woman before her gracefully moved her hand aside, the wind completely stopped, and the ash was gone also. Luckily, Matsumoto could regenerate ash in a snap of her fingers, but she was still appalled how easily her attacks were blown away. The strawberry blonde wore a dark frown on her face, thinking deeply upon how she was to defeat her opponent.

"Are you confused, Ice Kingdom filth? My Zanpakuto's abilities are simple; I can control the way the wind flows. The feathers are nothing more than a diversion, a diminutive skill taught by my Zanpakuto herself. Anyways, that's beside the point. If I wish for the wind to cyclone, or spin, or even split, I can do it. I can knock you off of your feet and send you hurling into space if I truly want. But do not think that is the end of my power. What I did with your Zanpakuto's ash is a different thing. My Rakuen no Tori can destroy or absorb any psychical-based attack. Whether I feel to send your weak attempt back at you, or just destroy it with a slight movement of my finger. You cannot defeat me."

Matsumoto inwardly sighed. There had to be some type of flaw in her attacks! She went back into battle stance, ash reforming in the air. The busty fukushō had a hunch about the other female's words.

Kyro took in a lungful of air, enjoying the irony scent of blood.

"Amazing, isn't it?" she purred sadistically, throwing the opposing fukushō off guard. "All of this destruction—isn't it truly amazing?" she grinned. "A single Kingdom—indeed one and one only—has put the rest of the Kuzuryū in destruction?" the rosette chuckled. "The Balance Kingdom isn't even the biggest Kingdom—we already took that one down—nor the most populous—that one is also destroyed—and we remain superior!"

"Will you shut up sometime?" the strawberry-haired female hissed. Kyro put one of her bloodied fingers over her lips.

"Shh, quiet down. Do you hear anything?"

Even though the other female sounded foolish at the moment, she couldn't help but realize the seriousness she was hinting at. Even with excellent hearing, she couldn't hear anything else but the last of the buildings crumbling, or the clashing of her nushi and the ex-Balance Kingdom leader.

"I don't hear anything." She muttered darkly.

Almost like an overexcited child, she squealed. Of course, this wasn't the way Kyro acted, but during wars she had the tendency to use the façade to annoy her enemies.

"Yes, indeed!" She quietly applauded. "And you know why?"

Matsumoto's eyes widened, her mouth slightly parted. Her pupil's thinned, and her windpipe seemed to close up. She felt unbelievably dizzy. The world around her swayed, the motions slowed down. It was almost like a dream; everything was so vivid, yet blurred. Perhaps it was clear and blurry at the same time? She constantly reminded herself to calm down, but her thoughts were like echoes. Almost as if reality and fiction were telling her things at the same time. She refused to believe either, but fell for both.

"No…" she hoarsely whispered.

Kyro squealed again, this time stamping her feet in the reddened snow in some sort of juvenile dance of joy.

"Yes, yes! That's because everyone that lived in Shimo-shi is _dead_!"

* * *

><p>"Dead…?"<p>

"Is that not what I said?"

The less excited, flat-chested female looked at him through dull gray eyes. Yashiroi refused to believe such nonsense, but the facts were painstakingly in-his-face. There was rubble, debris, blood and carnage all around him. A brutal massacre that no longer held the screams of terror, but the ill-omened silence took its place. Even if the people of Shimo-shi were screaming, it would've been much better than this. At least he would know that they were still alive. The pale-skinned Wyvern held his staff tightly until the white of his knuckles showed.

"I will avenge these people."

"You will die."

Like a blur, Yashiroi moved. He swung his staff at his enemy, but she lifted her sword in time to block his attack. Her eyebrows dipped, but the bored look remained.

"Why do you still fight? Your city is destroyed." Two short sentenced greatly enraged the Ice Kingdom Guardian. He jammed his staff into the ground, the small crystals that hung from the rim jingled softly.

"Ryuketsu ga Ryu (Bloodshed Dragon)!"

A large ice dragon emerged from the ground, the surface of the ruined city striking up in large chunks. Though, this one was diverse from any other typically blue or clear ice dragon in the Ice Kingdom; this one was red. It had thin layers of see-through ice covering over flowing, red blood. The ice just gave the dragon shape, and the blood is what made it move. Slowly and carefully, the dragon lugged the rest of it body out of maul in the ground, its blood tongue lolling out of its opened jaws in effort.

Unlike everyone else, Yashiroi didn't have a Zanpakuto. That was one of the many things prohibited in the Ice Kingdom; Guardians weren't allowed to share the same type of weaponry as the higher-ranked dragons. So instead, he settled for something different. It was a customized staff that ran off of the power of blood. Those types of weapons were powered off of what the user was willing to sacrifice. If they sacrificed a lock of hair or a small bit of flesh, the attacks would be low-powered and have little destruction. But something as precious as blood…depending on how much of the crimson liquid was distributed, the entire Shimo-shi could blow up in a puff of ashes. But of course a weapon like this was banned from the Kuzuryū years ago. He managed to keep the staff hidden for a while, but as for now, he needed to use it.

"Junshu (abide)."

The slackened body of the dragon straightened up, crimson eyes washing over with a pale glow of white. An ivory colored streak wrapped itself around the Wyvern's outstretched arm, thus giving him full control.

Nova's boring gray eyes remained unfazed, the blank, emotionless expression permanently painted on her pale face.

"Uninteresting." she muttered, using the same one word comment. She blinked once, scrutinizing the blood dragon again. "Very uninteresting." Ah, so she managed to say _two _words. What an amazing, astounding progress that's been made.

Nova irritated him most. She seemed completely uninterested in everything! Yes, he was well aware there wasn't the slightest hope or chance that Shimo-shi would be salvaged—everyone fighting would just burn it down more—but she just lacked to believe that they could stop everything else that was happening! Perhaps they'd be able to spare the rest of the Ice Kingdom? Even being in the face of such a dangerous, deadly beast, she managed to keep up the same face, same attitude, and same tone of voice…she was just permanently indifferent. He momentarily wondered if her Shikai would stay the same, just as her personality.

"We will fight now." she declared, unsheathing a sleek, black word from its sheath. The dark blade was surrounded by a faint, red glow. The sword was looked like a normal katana, though the tsuba was a bit different. The shape was generally square, though they were angled and curved in. It was an off-white color, little circle-shaped carvings decorating the base. Yashiroi could see this all without squinting. Wyvern eye-sight; it wasn't as good as dragons', but it was much better than humans'.

"Naku, Karasu no Kane."

The sword, of course, remained unchanged. Nothing was added, nothing was taken away. Just the same damn sword as it was before Shikai.

"I will explain this now," she said, stabbing her sword into the ground. "My powers revolve around extrasensory visions and autoscopy." she blinked again. "What you believe is not possible is manifested into something real—my Shikai."

Yashiroi cocked his staff back. He twirled the celestial weapon around until the Bloodshed Dragon began to respond to the movements. The Wyvern let the tip of his weapon touch the ground lightly. The dragon's slender neck dipped down, intimidating red eyes boring into Nova's skull. A series of white circles surrounded the tip of the blade, and a satisfied sigh came from its wielder. He was just glad that his attacks would still work; he couldn't even remember the last time he's used the technique. Eventually, the pure white ripples ran a cyan color. The blood-dragon shifted.

"Ketsueki tankyu(Bloodseeker)!"

The blood-dragon opened its jaws wide until Nova could see the very back of its throat. Its tongue lifted up and pointed at Nova. A red energy ball mixed with blood and flesh formed, growing larger with each passing second. The sphere began to take on a more wild and insane form. In seconds, the end of it frayed and formed into long strands of plasma-like strings, and in less than a heartbeat later, the ball of energy shot out in Nova's direction, still expanding though off of its power source.

The massive ball hit something, anything with blood (which at the moment was about everything), and detonated. A respectable portion of the city blew into bits, not that the damage wasn't enough already.

Debris rained from the sky, almost like sometime type of apocalyptic dream sent straight from Hell. Following shortly behind, rained blood. The red liquid spattered against his dirtied robes. Yashiroi bitterly looked down and sighed. He was usually told to have an angelic, pure appearance when he was in this stage, and now that he was stained in dark debris and blood, he looked more like a hellion demon than anything else.

In less than a few nanoseconds, he found himself lying face down in bloody snow. His nose crinkled against the sharp smell, but ignored it all rolled to the side, avoiding a sleek black and glowing katana.

He quickly sat up to meet dull, gray eyes again. A large leaking gash poured endlessly on her head, forcing her to close her left eye. Her right arm was completely shredded; in fact, the other half of it was missing. Stringy flesh and jagged, broken bones were exposed along with the side of her ribs where the skin and muscle deteriorated from the attack. Yashiroi looked her over again; meeting a gray eye again to figure out it wasn't as emotionless as he first believed. Spite was clearly shown through a single narrowed eye. He couldn't believe he missed it the first time.

Quickly realizing the danger of being within a few feet from her, he used his excellent speed and put some distance between the two.

Nova stabbed her sword in the ground, dipping her head and letting the wound on her forehead drip around it.

"Tobitatsu (Tear away)." she muttered, her voice barely making it to his ears. He could honestly say he had no clue what was going on. Yashiroi wasn't sure if she was using Bankai or just another ability in Shikai, but whatever it was, it didn't sit right with him. The air was completely still. No movements. The only sounds were Aizen and Hitsugaya's heated fight destroying absolutely everything, but besides that, there was nothing to be heard. He frowned.

"What is this?" she didn't respond to him. Hell, she didn't even move. Just silent, indifferent, bleeding…nothing added up. This only riled him. The usually calm Ice Wyvern, whose patience and tranquility was even praised by the Ice Lord, was miffed. Why? Because he's came across one whose silence, stiffness, and withdrawal was greater than his. "What is this!?" with much force he yelled. It was the first time in many years that he's raised his voice. It's been such a while that even his voiced cracked when his acoustic voice raised octaves. Silent, she remained. Second by second, Yashiroi was nearing a meltdown. The silence reminded him so much of the punishment he's received when he was much younger, before Hitsugaya-nushi became first-in-command.

_Flashback…_

_The darkness welled around him like a thick sheet surrounding him, choking him. He couldn't tell if he was alone, though he was sure of it—he hadn't heard a voice in many weeks, months or years even. He couldn't tell anymore. It was probably hundreds of days he's been thrown into such a hellish domain. A domain so far down beneath the ground, he was sure if he went any lower he'd be in Hell. A domain so far down, the pressure and lack of air always made him faint, and the amount of time he could stay awake was very limited. 2 minutes was his longest record._

_Though he believed he was alone, he couldn't shake off the feeling that he was being watched. By what? The darkness? The silence that always greeted him when he came to? He knew when he first ended up in this cell, there were others. Another group of scraggly human criminals that got sentenced to death along with him were all alive when they were locked away. They were with him when the last bit of light, although artificial and dim, were thought never to be seen again. They were with him. But where were they now? Had their bodies deteriorated long ago? Or were they still there, rotting away with every given second? The putrid smell that filled his nostrils when he first arrived was still present, but he couldn't tell if it were reinforced by carnage._

_He should be dead. This much was clear to him. Every time he fell into a pitiful, measly, disturbed slumber, the words echoed into his head. He should be dead. The people who threw him into the cell had no idea he was a Wyvern that can turn humane—those just didn't exist then. They didn't take a second glance at him after the beat him senseless for thieving and condemned him. The death that was meant to come a day after the beating would take a few more years than they anticipated. So until that fateful day came, Yashiroi sat silently. So silent that sometimes he believed he was dead. But he had to bitterly remind himself; if he was dead, he'd be peaceful. He was far from peaceful._

_The silence was always there, and he feared it. He wished it would go away. But he's forgotten how to speak. All his days went the same way; yearning, crying and praying for some voice to fill the void in his ears and soul._

_Flashback..._

He was in a trance; his mind was deluded and trapped in such a horrible memory, all thanks to Nova. She knew it would drive him insane. She knew he'd lose it all. Because she could tap into these memories thrown into the pits of his mind and draw them forward. Though only long enough for her to feed off of them and form.

Yashiroi, soon remembering that he was at war, came to. But the scene before his eyes was just completely upsetting. An unholy black figure, almost like an uneven, ragged paint-stroke, was posted in front of him. The figure was proportioned somewhat like a human body, the head and shoulders were in place along with the abdominal section. But in contrast to somewhat humanlike structure, two long spines, or perhaps very bony tentacles, struck out the back. They seemed to be dripping in some dark, tarlike substance that held an acrid scent to it. For eyes there were gaping mauls that dimly glowed red, for a mouth—there was none. Now that he took a closer look, the body itself didn't look solid. More like a highly condensed gas that was thick enough that you couldn't see through it. He noticed that the "flesh" seemed to move.

He jerked his head back, but his movements didn't come in time. The arms—the heavily discombobulated arms—stretched forward and latched onto him. Whatever roar he could muster was trapped in his throat as that evil creature chomped down on his shoulder. The sickening crack of his shoulder bones rang in his ears as he felt the black spines for teeth meet together in his flesh. Pale fingers pushed the shadow creature off of him, but it did close to nothing to salvage his shoulder. Blood poured and squirted from the new wound in his shoulder. The black, sticky liquid left behind gave his shoulder a scorching burn to add to the pain.

He had to figure out what this thing was before it chomped him to bits. He quickly reflected on what she told him before the fight got heated: _"My powers revolve around extrasensory visions and autoscopy." she blinked. "What you believe is not possible is manifested into something real—my Shikai." _

Autoscopy; it was a belief that one could move outside of his or her body. With his hand clenched tightly over his shoulder and his jaw clenched together, Yashiroi peered over the head of the vixen ahead of him. Behind that monster, he spotted Nova, he body still in the same position as it was before. A thin black line formed from the sword. He followed it with his eyes, watching it as it got thicker until it traced back up to his current opponent.

'_So this is her soul?' _Her soul wasn't anything short of what he expected. Nova's soul was a wild bird trapped in a cage. That would explain why she said _tobitatsu_, which meant tear away. _'Tear away the connection of the soul and body.' _He concluded. Someway, she'd have to die. Prying his hands away from his dripping wound, he picked up his staff. The blood-dragon began to respond once more.

"Junshu."

He flicked the staff foward, and the dragon followed like lightning. Its snout crashed into the ground where Nova's soul was—well, _once _was. He swore under his breath.

"Ketsueki tankyu!" another red beam gathered at the tip of the blood dragon's tongue and shot off within seconds. Pale eyes flickered back and forth. Where could she possibly be? He then remembered something very distinct about her soul; it stank horribly. He cautiously lowered his eyes and parted his mouth, drawing in tainted air. Most of what he smelled was smog, flesh and blood, but there was a slight acrid scent coming from somewhere close…

He twirled on his heel and slammed the end of his weapon into the soul's stomach. A high pitched squeal, sounding much like a banshee. He momentarily wondered how that beast was able to do so without a mouth, but that was the least of his concerns. The black figure flew a couple of dozen yards before hitting the ground and rolling until it stopped. Two stem-like sticks, which was what he assumed was arms, struggled to lift its body up. The wings slowly began to function, but Yashiroi didn't wait to see what it could do. Large fingers found themselves wrapped around that thin line he was observing earlier. The instant it was touched, the ghoulish figure snapped its head in his direction. With his free hand, Yashiroi positioned the blood-dragon so that it blocked that monstrous creature from attacking. He yanked the thin line back and watched as Nova's soul was fruitlessly dragged. The pale male barely suppressed a grin. He motioned his staff towards him, and at that same second, the blood-dragon lay at his side. Using mental commands, he commanded the dragon to open its mouth. He quickly and hastily fixed the black soul-string around the dragon's mouth. The blood filled reptile closed its mouth, and with a flick of Yashiroi's hand, went skyward. He watched at the long red dragon formed into a tiny dot in the sky, dragging that wretched monster with him. But he didn't fail to see the long, stringy, tarlike material that never severed. Quickly averting his attention, the Wyvern opened his mouth once more.

"Ketsueki tankyu!" The blood-dragon far above them all gathered another red ball in its mouth and fired. This time, it was a direct shot at the evil bastard. Just like a lightning had thunder, the blood-seeker attack finally made a sonic boom that shook the foundations of the ground.

He glanced at Nova, his original opponent, and allowed the blade at the tip of his staff to grow. He would behead that bitch for safe precautions. And vengeance. Half-hobbling half-walking, Yashiroi stumbled over to the stiff female, ready to end his part of the battle.

That is, before he was dragged away.

* * *

><p>Matsumoto could tell by the expression on her opponent's face that's she, too, was not expecting the sudden interruption. Both female's shunpoed in different directions, avoiding the falling buildings that shook the ground. Her eyebrow's knitted together. What the hell was going on? Surely it couldn't be any attack set up by Kyro, seeing that she was equally surprised. She squinted and frowned. She was pretty sure all of the fights were spaced out far enough to cover all of Shimo-shi without bumping into each other, but what was going on?<p>

She glanced down at her temporary post before dashing off. It was a once-white column, probably belonging to some sort of legislative house before the battle. With her sword in hand and her robes flapping wildly, she dove into the messy debris. The dust was so thick and heavy; she could barely see or breathe. Matsumoto's chest heaved with every chorus of coughing and hacking. Trying to ignore the loud _pssst _of a busted pipe, the strawberry blonde shakily searched for the only person who could've done this damage.

"Yashiroi!" she called hopelessly. She almost slipped into a pit where there wasn't enough debris to keep it somewhat steady. From this, she knew she had to get out of this hazard quickly before the whole thing collapsed. Then, there'd never be any hope of finding the Gate Guardian. She cupped her hands around her mouth. "Yashiroi!" she screamed his name again and again. But there was never an answer. Even after some time, the pipe began to die out into a sickening silence. There were a few heavy crunches behind her. She was hopeful for a split second, but she looked into the face of an enemy. By the looks of the unrecognizable body slung over Kyro's shoulder, she didn't come to fight. But she didn't come to help either. Even with the long gashes and scars all over her body, she still held an arrogant, ignorant, malevolent air around her.

"Good luck finding your filth, you slut."

And she disappeared. Matsumoto quickly shook her head and continued her search. A few more minutes in, she finally noticed it was night time. And the reason she didn't notice this was because the wildfire that spread rapidly, scorching Shimo-shi in dangerous licks of heat and destruction. She realized something dreadful: They weren't going to fight Shimo-shi to the ground; it was going to _burn _to the ground along with everyone it.

* * *

><p>'<em>Why the hell is he fucking strong!?'<em>

The both of their bodies were littered with cuts, bruises, gashes, slashes, gaping mauls—they were completely wrecked. Their bodies, no matter how many times they wished to heal themselves, would forever be scarred by each other's blades.

The both of them couldn't tell who was losing or who was winning. All Hitsugaya knew was that one of them was going to be dying that day. Hell, he wouldn't mind dying as long as that fuck-face died with him.

Toshiro panted heavily, taking ragged breaths in and out. His throat and neck was extremely tenderized from Aizen putting him in a death grip. Aizen nearly succeeded in killing him if he hadn't skewered him in the stomach with his sword.

Both of their movements were slightly sluggish from the gaping wounds. Their visions were disoriented until the point where either one wasn't sure if they were seeing an illusion or the real thing. Whichever one it was, Toshiro was going to kill it. And he was hell-bent on that. Using the remainder of his strength, he transformed back into a reptilian creature known for dominance. At this state, he would be able to get more on the offensive side, but as of defensive, there were very few ways to block as a dragon. At this state, it was an all or nothing.

Aizen, seeing where this fight was heading, transformed also. And at the same time, both male's lunged. Claws raked down each other's back, deafening roars of pain echoed throughout the whole kingdom. Aizen fixed his claws into Hitsugaya's shoulder bones, and Hitsugaya did the same. Both looming creatures fell to the ground in another deafening _boom_. The ground cracked underneath their weight. Toshiro pulled his claws forward, which was still connected to Aizen's body, before slinging the brownish dragon into the fire. But Aizen refused to burn alone. The light inside of the fire was blinding, and the air was absolutely no good. Toshiro brought his teeth down Aizen's neck, the satisfying crunch of bones giving him the extra adrenaline rush he was praying for. The blue ice dragon with a white mane prepared to deliver the death blow when the struggling body beneath him disappeared.

Matsumoto barely managed to keep her pace with the dead weight of her fallen comrade in her arms. Yashiroi was horribly maimed. His wounds made her slashes look like paper cuts.

'_Oh, Yashiroi,'_ she thought sadly. _'Please don't die on me yet. Please don't.'_

There were two punctures in his lungs that alarmed her the most. It was only a matter of time before she lost her friend to fate. And from the sound of the battle with Aizen and Toshiro it was either done or the both of them were dead. Her stomach dropped.

'_I know Toshiro will be alive,' _she thought, trying to take her mind off of a world controlled by Aizen. _'Toshiro is one of the strongest dragons in the Kuzuryū. H-he's got this.'_

She skidded to a stop and glanced at the panting, small figure a couple of yards away from her. It was her nushi. He was alive! She did everything in her power to suppress her joy. She barely controlled her legs from sprinting towards her leader.

"We've won, Hitsugaya-nushi." She said, trying to cheer herself up along with her first-in-command. But the petrified, unaccomplished, distant look in his eyes said otherwise.

"No, Matsumoto." He voice was frighteningly empty. "He's gone." He took in another lungful. "He's disappeared."

* * *

><p><em><strong>The Second Return<strong>_

* * *

><p>Months after the war, almost no Kingdom has recovered. They were almost just as bad as they were during the war. There were still carnage being picked off the streets in each Kingdom besides the Balance Kingdom and the Ice Kingdom seeing that the Ice Kingdom's causalities was concentrated in Shimo-shi, and all the bodies burned, and the Balance Kingdom wasn't included in the mass destruction. Months after the war, Yamamoto gave his consent to rid of the Balance Kingdom. Two betrayals was enough, a third one would be insane. So that's where all of the Kingdom's nushi's were. They were all lined up, ominously standing high in the sky of the Balance Kingdom as they prepared for the Kingdom destruction ritual. All of the people of the Balance Kingdom, young and old were sentenced with death. Nobody from the Balance Kingdom was able to leave the Kingdom, so everyone there would pay for what their leaders did.<p>

Yamiru of the Kingdom of Darkness, formally the Teleportation Kingdom before the war, unsheathed her sword. She was the start of the ritual.

"I bring darkness to this world." She began. The large sword, which contrasted against such a small body, was held out before her. "Screech, Ekō no Kage!" the sword went into Shikai. "Yami' abare mawaru (the darkness' rampage)!" the ground below her was covered in a cloud or darkness that ate away at the buildings and people. After a couple of minutes, she dispelled it leaving mild destruction to the Kingdom.

Next to Yamiru, was her twin brother, Shamashio Dei. He was Lord of the Death Kingdom. "I condemn this land with eternal death." He pulled his sword from his hip rather than his back like his sister; his sword was shorter. "Sneer at life, Shiromaru(Death White Circle)!" The blade lengthened and took of the shape of a thin, curved dagger with three prongs of the back. "Tamashī shūkaku (soul harvest)!" He spun his blade twice in a counterclockwise motion. A white circle formed in the center of Kingdom. "Junshu: spread." In a small movement of his fingers, the white circle expanded all across the kingdoms, stealing the souls of everyone the resided there. In seconds, the screams and commotion that went on in the Balance Kingdom was no more. Now the population of the Balance Kingdom was zero.

Newly appointed Lord Hsariku Shai of the Storm Kingdom and Lord Byakuya Kuchiki of the Flower Kingdom stepped forward. In unison and in a monotone voice, they chanted: "Together we bring havoc to this world."

At this point, Bankai became necessary. Hsariku used hers first. "Howl in night storms, Ukito Kiro Yaban-jin!" she paused. "Bankai! Ōarashi (tempest)!" a mass of lightning, hail, and surging water blending together and struck the land in masses. The buildings finally came crashing down and were waiting for Byakuya to completely turn them into dust.

"Scatter, Senbonzakura." He said, calmer than Hsariku. "Bankai." He released the sword from his grip and watched as it melted into ripples in thin air. The bladeless hilt returned to his hand, and as for the vane, millions of millions sharp-edged sukara petals hit the ground. The moment it did, everything that once stood was reduced to dust.

Konata Shomaku of the Crystal Kingdom stepped forward. "I shake the foundations of the Kingdom until it separates." She pulled out her short katana blade. "Shoot towards the sky, Datsu!" she dragged her two fingers along the side of the blade. "Bankai! Jishin no yajirushi (Arrow of the Quake)!" the sword transformed into an oversized bow. It stretched from feet above and feet below her. The weapon seemed to be made of word, but anyone with a brain knew better than that. Conjuring up a normal sized arrow for an abnormally big bow, she pulled the string and arrow back. The arrow wedged itself in the dead center of the Kingdom before expanding and growing, getting longer and longer until everybody could see the cracks growing in a jagged line down the kingdom's floor. Within seconds, the Kingdom split in half.

Kimoyoku of the Light Kingdom didn't need to use his Zanpakuto. "I take away the light that sheds rays upon the Kingdom." He waved his hands at the sun. In a mere second, the whole entire Kingdom went pitch-black. The only light left was the star before being tucked away.

Marayuki Suki, newly appointed Lord of the Life Kingdom was next. Her part in the ritual did not require any powers. "Let the destruction that has been done lead us in a better life. The death and darkness will condemn, storm a flower do not forgive, and then sun that once shed light is no more." She paused. "Even though ice and fire will mutilate any signs of life, let this symbolize the beginning of a new one." She paused again. "We shall not look back."

Toshiro unsheathed his sword. "Let the ice represent the cold, inanity of war." He muttered. "Reign upon the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru!" he fiddled around with his sword in the darkness. "Bankai! Hyōten Hyakkasō!" A short blizzard lasting up to 10 seconds was issued. I seconds, the second of ice forming in large rapid movements can be heard in the void place that was once the Balance Kingdom.

Tombi Gahato, Lord of the Fire Kingdom, began. "And with this power, I burn it to Hell!" she unsheathed her sword. "Open the eyes of the dragon, Zibarraru! Bankai!" she drew a half circle with her blade. "Shikeishū no rensa kaen (Condemned Chained Flames)!" in the ground of the split, frozen and darkened Kingdom, a red dragon could clearly be seen coiling around the entire kingdom. Japanese writing, big and small were in a slightly lighter color.

Toshiro opened the portal to exit the formal Kingdom. Everyone left before the fire Lord. When everyone exited the Kingdom and there was nothing left but a crack in the portal, she muttered, "Activate." And the king blew-up into nothingness.

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><p><strong>AN: Sorry it took so long! Forgive my mistakes please. I already have 2,000 words down for the next chapter so I will be updating faster than this time. Tootles~ Oh, drop a review and…**

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